Between the Dark - The Prequel
by LucissaBlackMalfoy
Summary: Darkness will fall and it will engulf, but the light between it is what matters most.
1. Chapter One

It wasn't a particularly spectacular day as far as weather goes. It was cold and drizzly; typically mid-November and it kept most students inside. All except those who were running through the courtyard between charms and potions, grumbling and cursing when they attempted to dodge the downpour, only to stand in an unavoidable puddle. Thunder cracked through the sky, distilling the clouds it was covered by and lighting the grey against the castle turrets, flickering the lights in the Slytherin common room, candle flames wavering, casting shadows along the dungeon walls.

"Hope you're still out this afternoon Malfoy -", Lucius' attention was caught over his shoulder by a tall boy, short blonde hair, vivid dark eyes; Casper Aldrich. "- or do the prestigious not fly in the rain?", he threw himself down on the leather chair next to Lucius, playfully punching him in the upper arm.

"Trying to put on a challenge?", being close friends and being on the same Quidditch team generally meant they had banter between them. Usually sarcastic and harmless. Caspar smiled and raised an eyebrow, picking up the paper from the low table situated between the two chairs. It's surface glinted in the glow of the fire, lighting bright each time the thunder rumbled.

"Nothing interesting making the headlines, as per usual", he threw the paper back to where he'd found it and it slid along the dark wood, stopping before it could fall over the edge, the images clinging to their own individual boxes as they came to an abrupt halt.

"You've got a watcher..", Caspar nudged Lucius in the direction of the onlooker, his familiar teasing smirk playing on his face, mocking Lucius who frowned at him and looked past him towards the girl Caspar had nodded towards.

"Leave her alone Casp", the seriousness in his tone led him to ward off Caspar who, in turn, got up and moved over to the other side of the common room, joining the rest of the Quidditch team around a table, negotiating tactics.

He'd seen her a few times before when he'd started his second advanced year in September and she'd started her first advanced - he found it peculiar that he hadn't noticed her before. Lucius caught her eye and she turned away from him as she got up from the small table she'd been sat at, closely missing the people behind her and leaving the room. He'd vaguely tried to catch her attention now and again, maybe to give her a passing wink, maybe to give him the opportunity to go over and speak to her. Obviously he had some indication of who she was. A Black sister. He'd noted this when he'd seen her with that god-awful, what was her name, Bella-something? The girl who had strangely misplaced and spontaneous hair in the year above him, who liked to pick on the younger ones, her little sister included.

He sprung up from sitting, following towards the path she'd taken out of the common room into the corridor. Reaching the entrance, he focused his eyes to the far end of the long hallway, catching a blur of her; usually the way he always saw her. He followed towards her briskly, breaking into a gentle jog as he almost caught up with her. As he neared her she slowed and turned around to him, seemingly startled that she'd gained a stalker so to speak.

"Sorry, er-", he scattered around for something and he found himself somewhat lost, which wasn't usual for Lucius. Being a Malfoy, confidence came with the name. His mind failing him, he held out his hand for hers and she placed one against his.

"Lucius Malfoy. Sorry, I, I wasn't following you.. Well I was.. But-l", he held onto her hand a moment longer than intended and he felt her pull it away slightly. He realised she was quizzing him with her eyes; searching his for a potential answer. He noticed the books she held in folded arms and used them as a source for some sort of conversation starter.

"Are you off to study in the library?", he signalled towards the books with his hand, the other in his pocket; attempting to maintain his casual aura, perhaps to put her at ease. She nodded, holding the reading material closer to her chest.

"How about I come with you?", she looked wary, not sure how to take this sudden attention, his motives seeming darker to her than he probably intended them to be. She turned back towards the direction of the library and he followed her, levelling his walking pace with hers.

"So you're one of the Blacks, correct?", he knew but he just wanted to clarify, yet the long pause made him look at her again. She must've nodded in response because again, she didn't speak and continued to look ahead as they continued down the corridor.

He kept the questions to himself as they reached the library, turning into the darker surroundings, she led the way to the very back of the long room. She settled herself down at the furthest table, the one hidden by a large bookcase which threatened to teeter over from the weight it held in paper. Lucius sat down opposite her and watched as she opened a book and began reading. After a few minutes, she peered up through her lashes to find him still observing her.

"Is something interesting Mr Malfoy?", it was the first he'd heard from her. The first liquid words that escaped her lips.

"I could ask exactly the same of you, Miss Black... I regularly catch you looking in my direction", she instantly flushed gentle crimson and buried her head back into the words she'd been so focused on before, pulling the book up slightly further so that he was no longer visible in her peripheral vision.

"What're you reading?", he pulled the book towards him and she gently snatched it back, but he closed it and pushed it out of her way so she was forced to look at him.

"I think I asked you first?", she raised an eyebrow and continued to look at him. Her voice warmed him, melted into his ears.

"You.", her face changed to being puzzled, "...you asked me what was so interesting?", he explained his answer further and she broke the eye contact, her cheeks lightly flushing again as she searched the space around him to find something else to focus on, but she was brought back to him.

"You don't say much do you?", his accusation made her move her eyes to the side again so that she didn't have to look at him. She felt vulnerable, she didn't know him. She knew of him, everyone knew of him and everyone, or at least the girls, tried every trick in the book to get his attention. She'd succeeded simply by ignoring him, but now he was interrogating her. Questioning her as though he had any right, like he'd known her for years.

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't know what you want but, I really don't know you...", he caught a glimpse of what he perceived as fear in her eyes. Of course, they'd never spoken before and he'd followed her into the library to the darkest corner. It wasn't really the friendliest of places for a first conversation; it was more sinister if anything. As people started to leave the library, presumably for their next lesson, he made a more innocent offer.

"Let me walk you to your next class?", he began to stand so that she could make an easier decision; follow him or let him leave.

She gathered the books back up from the table and cautiously followed him, not sure if what she was doing was right; they'd exchanged only a few words, but it seemed the people who saw them walking together had more to say than they had done to each other and as they whispered, she caught the syllables of her name.

As they reached the classroom and people began to push past them in a hurry to be the first there, his paced slowed and she kept behind him slightly. As the people cleared into the classrooms, he turned to her so that she had her back against the wall, the books in her arms keeping a perimeter between them.

"I have open Quidditch training later, if you'd like to come along?", her continued silence suggested that he was perhaps being too forward and so he pulled back the offer slightly, "only if you want to..", he stepped back and it echoed gently in the corridor.

"I have to go..", she began to walk towards the classroom door, not really wanting to give him an answer, because really, she'd be more than happy sat in the common room watching the rain droplets race down the window panes. Her gaze snapped back to him as he held her arm and then let go.

"Sorry.. I'll look out for you.. Narcissa", he smiled playfully as he began to continue down the hallway, leaving her to go to Charms but she watched as he reached the end and turned the corner out of sight.

She trudged across the field, her scarf wrapped up around her neck, the green clashing against her contrasted hair. She nuzzled her face down into the knitted threads barricading her porcelain skin from the cutting wind. The Quidditch pitch grew bigger as she gained on it, the stands skeletal and bare, lacking any team colours.

She reached the entrance of one of the stands wondering to herself why she'd even come out here. She'd never had any previous interest in him and even though he had been rather out of order earlier with his quizzing and following, she suddenly found herself compelled by him. And like he'd pointed out, she'd found herself looking his way more than just a few times the past few weeks. She kicked herself inside; she'd never been one of the girls that had been falling at his feet or stumbling over herself every time he made an appearance, but something had recently drawn her in. Her heart nervously fluttered but she quickly controlled it as it sputtered down to a regular beat. She slowly walked along the far wooden beams of the stand which were hiding her from the direct view of the team and her eyes instantly sought him out amongst the clash of robes.

"Fancy seeing you here..", the familiar voice spun her around to see Caspar, leant against a wooden beam. His smile playing at the corners, his eyes bright, playful. The sudden break in the silence had caused her to take a step back, unfortunately landing her head into the path of beam; the bump radiated a pain around to her forehead as she tried to quickly forget about it.

"Oh, I was invited?.. By your friend.." she walked over to him and leant on the beam opposite him, relaxing slightly into the conversation, twisting her head gently to the side and back to as hopefully relieve herself of the headache.

"Who? Lucius?", he snorted gently, shaking his head slightly and dropping his gaze to the ground before looking at her again.

"Ah, typical Lucius, always going after the pretty ones..", she rolled her eyes at him as he summarised his friend. That's how she'd first heard about him, Lucius. Her's and Caspar's parents had known each other for years and naturally, they'd too become quite close friends. Caspar, being in Lucius' year at school (one ahead of Narcissa), had fondly told her about their Quidditch games whenever they happened to see each other.

"What do you mean?", her expression was puzzled, not quite sure what to make of what he'd just said. He'd never made any such comment before and she could 't understand why he would do so now simply because another boy had been brought into the conversation.

"Never mind", his smirk stayed clear on his face and they were interrupted.

"You came..", Lucius was walking towards them, eyes smouldering in her direction, blonde hair catching in the wind.

"I'll leave you two to it", Caspar playfully hit Lucius in the shoulder and he pulled Narcissa into the shelter of the stand just by using his very presence.

"Do you know him? Caspar, I mean", he turned to her as she was nodding. The headache had begun to subside and she could properly focus on what the conversation was.

"Our parents know each other..", he was quiet for a moment or two as he processed this. He felt a pang of jealousy, perhaps wishing he'd known her longer too. Caspar always seemed to get one ahead on him.

"Well, I best get pitch-side, don't want to keep him waiting; he's not one for patience is Caspar.. As you probably already know..", he turned away from her and began walking, leaving her feeling pushed back. Maybe he didn't want to know her now that Caspar was suddenly 'on-the-scene' so to speak, not that they'd ever been or ever would be romantically involved. The way he'd turned away from her almost confirmed her thoughts as he'd been hurried to get away, as though he'd suddenly lost all interest in her. She couldn't work out why she cared though, it's not like she was expecting him to suddenly want to know her; they'd only just met.

She took this as a sign to leave, knowing she shouldn't have braved the weather to come out to see him. But that was it, she had wanted to see him, even though she kept telling herself it was stupid. Something about him this afternoon had completely intrigued her and she found herself suddenly wanting to be in his company; to see what all the hype was about that surrounded him. But now she felt rejected by his earlier advances, if you could even call them that and so she resigned herself to returning to the castle alone.


	2. Chapter Two

She sat in the far corner of the common room with a book open in front of her, reading the words but not quite making full sense of them. They swirled around, mixing themselves up, trying to trip her up as she tried to finish at least the first sentence and understand it. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of someone enter the room and knowing exactly who it was, she switched her full concentration to the text. As she began a steady momentum through the first paragraph, she waited for his attention to turn to her, but it didn't. She waited a little longer before moving her peripheral vision so that he was in view. His expression was still mildly thunderous, perhaps from their earlier conversation; he clearly objected greatly to the fact that Caspar had a step ahead of him and he'd been completely oblivious to this.

Closing the book, she stood, quickly scanning around for the best escape route to bed. It was unfortunate that every which way took her past his view and so she concluded, she'd have to endure a steely gaze from his direction. She moved as quickly as she could, determined not to make eye contact; failing miserably. Her eyes caught his and he kept the hold for too long so that as she turned back round to follow her path again, she bumped into another student. Taken aback by the sudden thump, she made a beeline for the door. She continued out and down the narrow, dimly lit corridor and reaching her room, she leant her back against the stone wall, a rogue rock poking into her spine. She closed her eyes, trying to dispel the lump that had formed in her throat. Adrenaline fluttered through her, quickening her heart beat. He had an undesired effect on her that she didn't want to accept. She didn't want to fall into that group of girls that gasped and pointed and giggled about him. A chatter echoing off the walls rang in her ears and she turned into her room, throwing her weight down onto her bed, locking the door with a quick spell behind her back. For once she was grateful her Father had personally paid a small fortune for her to have her own private room at school. She'd maybe also bribed her way into it too and for that she felt a slight pang of guilt; her parents asked that she continue her advanced years at Hogwarts and so she'd asked for her own room. Not anything too huge; it's not like she'd ever asked for anything else from them. In fact, she very much tried to keep her distance.

She gently levitated her wand into the air as it cast gentle golden whisps into the darkness before her; a simple thought spell which cast the lights out to mimic wherever your mind was wondering. She was momentarily mesmerised, until the wand quickly started spurting out little heart shapes which drifted against her skin before dispersing. She snapped the wand back and placed it down onto her bedside table.

It happened to be a usual Sunday morning; the mood was relaxed, robes were kept in wardrobes and wands left on bedside tables. A gentle ray of sun caught in the windows of the Great Hall, splitting the soft light across the house tables, lighting the crest sat above the grand fireplace, carved delicately into the stone.

It crept along until it fell upon the letter she was reading, illuminating the parchment so that she could see the shadow of her hand on the other side of the paper. Just another, perfectly written conversation from her Mother, telling her to write home more often, keep her room tidy and an eye on her older sister Bella. Surely it should be Bellatrix looking out for the younger generation? Rolling her eyes, she closed the letter back along the original fold and went to rip it into two equal parts down the centre, uttering a small charm under her breath so that it abruptly burst into discreet flames and disposed of itself. She swung her legs over the bench she was sat on at the table to leave and was stopped by a large figure. Malfoy. She peered up through dark lashes to find him staring down at her like an angry parent with a naughty child.

"I'd like to apologise, Miss Black-", he held out a hand, presumably to 'shake and make up'. She paused.

"For what?", of course she knew, she just wanted hear him say it, for Lucius Malfoy to apologise to her because he never apologised to anyone; he was one of those people that was always 'right'.

"For ignoring you. I didn't know you knew Caspar and I shouldn't have gotten into a complex about it. So I'm sorry.", his hand remained outstretched, waiting for her to respond. She paused again, considering.

"Apology accepted", she took his hand and gave it a brief shake, before returning it to herself and continuing to leave the table, not pushing the exchange any further, deliberately trying to be off-hand with him.

As she was leaving and turned the corner out of the Great Hall, she caught onto the sound of his patter of footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn to him again; instead she kept walking. As she turned again into a much quieter corridor, he came up close behind her and slipped his hand around her arm, pulling her back and twisting her around. It was her between him and the wall. Escaping was not an option.

"Lucius, what do you want?", her tone was demanding, attempting to shake off that she was taken aback that he'd spun her around so easily.

"I can't not talk to you Narcissa, I don't know what it is, we've only just met but, I find myself running into you, thinking about you...", he closed his eyes as he rest two hands either side of her against the wall, trapping her. When he opened his eyes again she was looking at him with a hint of question, potentially thinking that perhaps he was stalking her, forming some sort of unhealthy obsession with her.

"I know that came out wrong, I just, I want to get to know you more? If you'd let me?", he let one arm drop to his side; people were starting to stop and stare and he wanted to let her be free, just incase she wanted to run from his sudden clutches.

"Well you're certainly going a funny way about it... Just leave me alone?", the words were said through gritted teeth as she realised it'd sounded a lot harsher than she'd initially intended. He seemed taken aback, almost hurt that she'd shrugged off his advances so sharply. Regret instantly pooled inside her and she moved out of his way and continued down the corridor.

She sat in the bay of the window, looking out over the vast lake which stretched out, glittering between the hills as the lowering sun caught against it's rippled surface, throwing the light in all directions. It made a change to yesterday's gloominess, yet as the breeze caught up around her, the harsh bitter brought her back inside as she closed the windows, the panes jittering slightly against the wind. Just as she finished the small latch, a parade of small droplets began their descent and she watched as more joined the watery crop which very quickly started coming down in lashes. The sun twinkled between the rain, hazing over the view. She rested her forehead against the glass and felt the after-sting of her bump on the head from yesterday. After a minute or so, as she began to open her eyes again, faded shades of the spectrum caught her eye as she revelled in the beauty of where she was right now, by herself. She watched the rainbow as it's colours intensified, lingered and slowly melted away with the sun behind the farthest rolling mountain. She turned back around to her room and was caught off-guard by the darkness which had crept in. Kneeling across her bed to the wand on her bedside table, she produced a small glow and propped up the wand again so that it's golden light warmed each surface it touched. A little happiness span around her and she felt a moment of peace as she crawled into bed and reached for the nearest book. Flicking through the delicate pages to the where she'd left off, she began the first line and must've gotten down to about line eleven or twelve, when a certain person started creeping into her thoughts. The words she was reading were only being seen and not truly going in, as the recurrent thought rotated itself around in her mind, not giving up until she'd gotten out of bed and was half way out of her door. But she realised half way down the stone steps that he wouldn't be waiting for her in any way, shape or form; she'd brutally told him to leave her alone and so she turned on her heel and returned to where she'd previously settled.

Monday dawned as a neutral day. No sun, no rain, no wind. The sky was overcast and being the day it was, no real joy filled the Great Hall either. Announcements were made, weekly mail delivered and then students left for first lessons.

A few unruly boys pushed past her, shoving at each other as she slowly made her way to Potions. That didn't fill her with enthusiasm either. It had been her last choice of subject for her first advanced year and so she hardly saw it as important. To make it even more 'enjoyable' for her, Monday morning Potions were taken with second advanced years and to top it off, not to name any names, Lucius Malfoy happened to be in that very class. Sighing as she walked, hoping that her slowing pace might mean she'd somehow miss the entire lesson, she soon came face to face with the old wooden door which led into the classroom. Twisting the door knob, she let herself in to be greeted by a few other, less-enthused pupils who appeared more asleep than she felt. The only person she had any interest in who was there was Caspar, who she usually sat next to and so she made her way over.

"Hey..", his eyes were bright as he welcomed her to the seat next to him and she let the books she was carrying tumble onto the desk. She smiled at him as she sat and the classroom quickly filled, lastly by the person she was most trying to avoid. He conveniently sat opposite her on the other side of the room so that she could feel his stare resting on her.

"What is his problem?", she whispered across to Caspar as the lesson commenced. Caspar appeared to frown slightly and pause and then he fathomed an answer.

"He likes you - isn't it obvious?", Caspar shrugged it off, trying to keep the conversation light and casual. Narcissa noticed he seemed bothered by this and them he continued.

"Look Narcissa, don't get involved with him- he's bad news...", obviously, this only intrigued her further, but despite her persistent questioning, Caspar wasn't having any of it and kept all known secrets to himself as the lesson ended and students began piling out of the classroom. She lingered behind until she saw Lucius start to leave and hurrying over to him, she tapped him on the shoulder. He swung round, not expecting to see her after her small outburst.

"I'm sorry... For yesterday", she looked down as she said it so that she didn't have to see the smile that had started to appear on his face. "I didn't realise how it sounded when I said it...", she started fiddling with a loose stitch on the hem of her sleeve, pulling it so that the the fabric tightened and letting it go again.

"You can make it up to me?", he peered down to try and meet her eyes and succeeding, she brought hers up to his. "I'll be in the common room later tonight.. Maybe you'll happen to be there too?", before she even had chance to reply or put up some sort of objection, he'd winked at her and was leaving the room. Collecting her books, she too left and carried on to her next thrilling lesson; an hour of potion theory.


	3. Chapter Three

The fire glinted, lighting a soft glow on the right hand side of her face as she pulled her feet onto the leather sofa she had settled into in the common room. He sat down next her, one leg folded over the other. For a moment, his positioning made it appear more like a business meeting than him 'getting to know her'. He relaxed a little and slumped down slightly into the chair. Being around midnight, they were completely alone; it was almost bizarre that the common room should be so still and silent. Narcissa balanced a book across her knees, the spine flopping slightly, destroyed from being read extensively.

"You read a lot don't you?", he was patronising her, not exactly inviting her to stay put.

"I like reading; it means I don't have to pay attention to real life...", she raised her eyebrows as she tried to continue reading, not even giving him the satisfaction of having her eye contact.

"You're rather feisty too..", he nudged the book so it toppled onto the floor. She caught his eye and glared, unimpressed.

"It seems you don't really want me here..", she got up to leave but had barely left where she'd been sitting when he leapt forward a little too enthusiastically to grab her arm.

"Please don't leave.. I'm sorry, I don't do this sort of thing well..", a small smirk played on her lips before she straightened up and turned around to him.

"I've found it... Lucius Malfoy's weakness - who'd have thought it", she sat back down facing him, a little closer than she had been before. The intrigue she'd developed after the short conversation with Caspar earlier resurfaced. The desperation she'd just heard in his voice suggested there was another layer to him than the steely surface. Maybe she'd just scratched it, left a faint line in the shine. He looked knocked, like she'd stepped into his personal space where only he knew his secrets and everything he held behind his eyes. He tried to straighten up, hoping she hadn't seen the fault in his facade. A silence weaved it's way between them for a moment or two, before Narcissa pulled away it's web.

"I read a lot at home...", her voice was merely a whisper but he caught onto it, leading his eyes to see hers dropped to her hands which were fiddling with each other. He didn't press for a further explanation, he could tell she was working her way towards it as she sighed.

"I read to get away from everyone else. From my parents.. From Bellatrix... From the dysfunction that is the Black house...", she brought her eyes back up to his, glistening slightly as she snuffled and held back any tears which threatened. He turned towards her more, resting his head in the hand that belonged to his right arm; propped up against the back of the leather chair. Again, he didn't utter a sound, hopeful in the fact that she might open up to him more; take a chance to tell him everything she appeared to be holding back. His new intrigue comforted her, oddly enough. Someone cared for once; someone who didn't know her and so had no premeditated opinions of her or how she did things.

"Bellatrix turned out 'wrong' as my Father says... She disgraced the Black family name in only a matter of months after coming here. She's out of control. And so I'm expected to be the proper one.. The normal one...", she raised her eyebrows and scoffed quietly as she remembered her parents exact words; 'you will not be the disappointment Bellatrix has been'. Not much on her shoulders then? Ha. Now even her own mind was mocking her.

"And so I read. As a distraction. When I read, it's just me and I can be whoever I could possibly dream of being... And then someone comes along and snaps it shut...", she gently prodded him playfully, her face coming round to finally smiling, "and I have to come back into the real world. Where all I hear is yelling downstairs, or my Mother going on about being a 'proper young lady'", she pulled a face, imitating her Mother and Lucius smiled gently, his lips softly turning at the corners. He took one of her hands she'd been fiddling with and pressed his fingertips against hers, stretching their hands against one another. Her heart gradually began palpitating, something she always tried to control, just as she did now. He wasn't speaking, so it was a little easier.

"You don't have to be perfect for me you know... You already are...", his hand paused and she gently brought hers back into the safety of her personal perimeter. Her face had drained of the earlier smile and was now filled with a look of trying to understand, an almost bizarre situation, replaying itself in her mind as she tried to grasp onto what he'd just said. Without realising, his liquid voice had drowned her efforts of trying to control the beating and now it began pacing itself at high speed. He moved closer still, until their noses were parallel to each other. They were suddenly vulnerable to each other but willing the other to make the next move. One of them almost did, but the exchange was quickly interrupted by another student who clumsily banged through the common room door, obviously running a lot later for bedtime than planned.

"I should probably be.. Er..", she collected the book back and quickly stood up, trying to fathom the rest of a sentence. Lucius raised himself to her level and kept his hands in his pockets.

"Goodnight Narcissa...", he slowly leant forward and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, leaving her flushing in the firelight as he left her alone.

She nudged him with her elbow and leant into him slightly as she giggled with him. Caspar always had a way of helping her see the lighter side of life. Lucius watched them from farther down the table, his face thunderous again as he caught their eyes and they simmered down. As the hall was dismissed for first lessons, he held back and watched them as they left off together. Jealousy surged through him again, tinged with anger.

She led him to her favourite, well hidden table, just as she had done with Lucius. She sat in the furthest seat and Caspar sat opposite her, watching her with intent.

"What lessons do you have today?", his laughter somewhat subsided as he asked her a more serious question. She looked up through dark lashes, the dark flicks of eyeliner at the corners contrasting against the espresso shading of her eyes.

"Charms..", she rolled her eyes upwards an the smile reappeared on her face as it did his.

"You know, when you don't roll your eyes like that, you can be rather charming too..", he smirked at her and she hit him gently across the forearm with the nearest book.

"It's a shame the same can't be said for you...", she poked her tongue out at him as she reached for her charms handbook and flicked to the relevant page. She attempted to immerse herself in preparation for the following lesson but Caspar had other ideas.

"So has anyone caught your eye yet this year?", he leant back and winked at her, sarcastically hinting to himself.

"No, Caspar", she tried to keep her face serious but failed as the smile showed itself yet again. He'd never fail in this department.

"Not Malfoy then?", as she looked up, she was expecting to see him mocking her again, but she was only met by a seriousness from him; something she very rarely saw. She frowned but kept quiet. "I was serious the other day Narcissa.. He's bad news", he broke the eye contact and also took a book to begin reading. She closed it on him and held her hand over the cover as he looked back to her. He concentrated on her hand, the delicate length of her fingers, the perfectly manicured nails, the porcelain skin which laid itself flawlessly over over each tendon.

"So why are you friends with him?", her eyes pressed him for an answer.

"Because being friends is okay.. I just don't want you to get hurt Narcissa.. He always gets these girls and never stays with them for more than a couple of weeks... I don't want you to be one of them", her hand slowly left the book as she tried her own thoughts for a response.

"I won't get hurt Caspar.. I'm not that stupid..", she tried a smile in the hope it might lighten the mood; he just shrugged his shoulders and started to get up to leave, turning to her again before leaving the table.

"I hope you're right..", as he turned to leave again, Lucius stopped him in his tracks.

"Leaving so soon, Caspar?..", Caspar widened his eyes at him, pushing past him without any further facial expression. Lucius replaced his seat at the table.

"What were you two talking about?", Narcissa peered up from behind the book she'd been trying to follow and paused before closing the book and resting her arms over it.

"You...", she looked down to avoid seeing his reaction.

"Me? And what did Caspar have to say about me?..", she kept her stare low, unwilling to make eye contact with him.

"He says.. He said.. That you're bad news..", she dared to look up and found him fronting a very neutral expression, but she could tell that beneath he was simmering; potentially ready to explode. She was momentarily terrified that the outburst might happen here and he might over turn the table. He certainly looked as though he was considering it. She carried on, not knowing whether that was the best route to go down.

"He said you're always 'getting the girls', I don't know, I wasn't really listening to him", she quickly opened the book again, hoping that the conversation might end there.

"I wouldn't hurt you Narcissa..", he'd leant in towards her, whispering across the table to keep their exchange more private, although the bookcase they sat behind was also helpful in that sense.

"What do you mean? I'm not interested in you..", she gently shook her head and even her own words made her heart sink. Maybe she was interested and maybe she did want him. She kicked her own heart silently in her mind for wanting such a ridiculous thing.

"But you're interested in Caspar... I've seen you, the way you are with him...", she shook her head more violently, re-closing the book yet again, making it slam as to put an end to his outrageous remarks.

"Lucius, you have really gotten this all wrong.. Caspar is just a friend and you are someone I barely know anything about... Let's just leave it at that", she collected the books and gave him a firm look before leaving him, seething.

Lucius slammed down his Arithmancy books next to Caspar, not making an effort to acknowledge him. Taking a seat, he turned himself slightly away, frosting over the atmosphere.

"What the hell is the matter with you now?", Caspar, always the civilised, tried to start some sort of conversation; he wasn't going to spend the entire lesson like this.

"What do you think?", Lucius swung around to look him dead in the eye.

"Lucius, you'll just hurt her.. You know you will.."

"No I won't!", he was whispering loudly through gritted teeth as their professor made a rushed entrance into the lesson. "I just want to get to know her..", he hushed himself as the teacher started the lesson.

"I know what that means Lucius and you do it everytime and then change your mind...", Caspar was referring to the numerous girls that Lucius had 'had his eye on' or had merely asked out, perhaps for the status of simply having a girlfriend. Only to later decide they weren't for him and left them sobbing.

"There's something different about her..", Caspar rolled his eyes, shaking his head and opened his book. He took a quill and began writing, not wanting to fuel the fire. Lucius slumped over, leaning onto his arm which he had propped under his chin. He tried to concentrate on the lesson, the figures being taught to him but they wouldn't fit together and they refused to work out correctly. As the lesson eventually came to an end, he collected his books back up, leaning in closer to Caspar as he was about to leave.

"I'm serious... She's different..", he pushed past him, deliberately knocking him and left the classroom.


	4. Chapter Four

The morning broke through the Great Hall, mainly full of bright chatter amongst well rested students, except the odd one or two who were still fighting against closing eyelids. As the bell rang shrill from Dumbledore's desk, the bustling subsided as everyone gradually diverted their attention to the front.

"I just need to make a brief announcement regarding tomorrow's trip to Diagon Alley for all advanced years; no wandering off alone, no bickering, no pushing, no prank magic, no stealing, no raucous behaviour and certainly no funny business between boys and girls... Was there anything mentioned that is deemed too much to ask by any of you?", Dumbledore wasn't usually stern, but last years' trip to Diagon Alley left much to be desired and the school name was in the papers for a few weeks after it; some people still talked about it now.

"Please remember that this isn't a leisure trip and is merely to help with your chosen studies", as he finished the short lecture, he pinpointed eye contact with a few people in the room who he seemingly had a close eye on; Caspar Aldrich, Lucius Malfoy. Hardly surprising. As Dumbledore and the other teachers began to leave the long table overseeing the students, everyone else began to get up and the advanced years started to make their way in a large bustle to the courtyard. Caspar caught up with Narcissa and tapped her on the shoulder as she span around, smiling.

"I take it you're tagging along?", Narcissa mocked him as he gently nudged her, her feet stepping sideways from the motion, closely missing a young blonde girl from a giggling group of first year Hufflepuffs.

"Don't get too cosy you two.. I'm watching..", Bellatrix thumped into them as she passed and pushed her way to the front; boisterous should've been her middle name as she bounded, her electric mass of hair remaining iconic as she began shoving through the others. That was the only unfortunate thing about this trip - both advanced years had to go on it as a mandatory learning excursion and so Narcissa had the joy of also spending the day in the shadow of her sister. Just the way she'd spent most of her younger days.

"Just ignore her..", having known the Black family for years, Caspar knew what made Narcissa tick, how to make her laugh and how, in particular, her older sister continuously grated on her. She'd had Andromeda to turn to originally, until her parents had forbidden her to return home after she began turning to the muggle side of men, and so Narcissa had been somewhat abandoned. Ironic really, that her name should stand for something so bright when really she'd been sinking into the background; a little lost girl. As they reached the courtyard, Caspar slipped his hand into hers, trying to keep her close as people continued to push past them, one of which happened to be a snarling Lucius.

"Just leave him be Narcissa.. He's just got issues..", she looked up at him to see his face filled with distant concern, mulling over his own choice of words. She took in a gulp of air steadily through gently parted lips, perched to say something, but decided to hold back as his brow continued to furrow deeper into his thoughts.

As they arrived into Diagon Alley, Caspar continued to keep her close, the warm of his palm heating her cool one. He'd seen the darker side of this street and he didn't want her exposed to it. The thought echoed in his head as they passed a darkened alley way and she slowed causing him to do so too, peering down to the far end, intrigued by the black that lingered between the stone walls.

"Knockturn Alley...", she tilted her head slightly so as to read the misplaced sign, hanging by a rusted nail in each end, the paintwork on the letters crackling and peeling so that reading it from a distance wasn't easy.

"You'll only ever go down there if you're desperate Narcissa...", his warm breath whispered close to her ear, tickling her eardrum so that she spun around. Her forehead made a near-miss with his chin as he pushed her back slightly to avoid the collision. The force however, made her hold onto his arm to steady herself and she pulled him inwards so that she was pressed up against the alley wall. Her hand was suddenly clammy against the coarse fabric of his coat and she felt each fibre scratch gently as he moved the said arm to her waist. Her leg quivered and she quickly controlled it, trying to keep her breathing in check. As he began to lean down, his lips making a beeline for hers, she quickly dipped out of his reach and backed out into the light of the main street, stumbling over a rogue cobble, steadying herself as she took another step away from him.

"Narcissa, I'm sorry... I thought.. I don't know what I thought...", she turned around but kept a step or so apart, slowly backing away from him as he tried to gain a closeness level with her again.

"It's fine.. I shouldn't have pulled your arm...", she shook her head, eyes down as she continued onwards up Diagon Alley, not waiting for him to catch up. As she felt him getting closer to her, she made a swift diversion into the closest shop hoping that he hadn't noticed. Her stomach turned on her as she thought of the situation she'd been in only moments ago, pleading her mind to put it to the side for just a moment so that she could comprehend everything. As she tried her best to envision a blank canvas, she found herself in the unwanted presence of another person whom she'd rather not have run into.

"Narcissa...", she sighed as she realised and confirmed that it was him. Her shoulders sunk but her heart lightened. It was incredibly confusing and tears began to glaze over, blurring her thoughts into one heaped mess.

"...What's wrong?...", he put down the wand he'd been studying and came over to her. He was about to wrap an arm around her and take her to the nearest place with fewer people than they were currently surrounded by. Despite his ignoration towards her over the past couple days, he felt an obligation to comfort her. Caspar and his sudden appearance however, made this slightly more difficult.

"She's fine", he pushed in front of Narcissa to confront Lucius who seemed to tower above him, chest puffed out, warding him off. It did very little as Caspar brought himself right up to him, trying to match his height.

"She doesn't look fine...", his gritted teeth made the words whispers but Caspar had heard them perfectly well, "...you'd better back off..", Lucius' threat barely phased Caspar who still stood strong against him.

"Or what Malfoy? You'll swing a hit?... You can hurt me but you won't hurt her... Remember what we talked about?...", Caspar's reminder was the last straw for Lucius' anger and he lashed out at Caspar, pushing him back and knocking him into Narcissa. Her body, not expecting the blow, was thumped back into a bookshelf. Caspar gathered himself back up and grabbed Lucius' collar, pulling him sharply down so that their eyes were level. Ice blue against vivid dark, clashing their thoughts into each other, snarling.

"This ends here...", Lucius's hand removed Caspar's and he backed off at the words; not so much because of the threat that Caspar had tried to ignite the sentence with, but more for the fact that Narcissa had sustained injury from his actions. He kicked himself inside, furious he'd let harm come to her because he couldn't let his complex with Caspar go. "...I'm warning you..", Caspar prodded him firmly into his coat lapel and in turn found his hand batted out of the way as Lucius flung out and then backed off to the farther end of the shop. Caspar turned around to Narcissa who had leant herself back against the bookcase and pulled her knees up under her chin, wrapping her thick cloak around her as a protective barrier. He knelt down to her, about to hold out a hand to help pick her back up, when a hand rested on his shoulder.

"Mr Aldrich... Is er, everything alright here... Miss Black?..", as Caspar turned around and stood up to see Professor McGonagall, he side stepped, revealing the broken Narcissa.

"Er, yes.. Narcissa suddenly felt a little faint Professor... I'm sure she'll be fine soon enough...", he stepped back to shield the view of her still hunched up on the floor. Professor McGonagall made an attempt to move the boy out of her way, failing as Caspar mimicked her movements.

"Very well...", she gave him a warning look before leaving them to it. He quickly took advantage of her departure and swung around to Narcissa, lowering himself to crouching as he did so, bringing himself to her level. He held out a hand without a word an she took it, grateful to be picked up off the floor, not wanting to make the effort herself.

"Thankyou..", it was a murmur as she brushed off her cloak and turned to leave. Caspar drew breath to speak but hun up the the start of his sentence as she looked at him as she opened the door, her face sincere.

As the wind battered against the onlookers, the Slytherin Quidditch team battled it out. Most of them against the other team, Lucius and Caspar against each other. Rather than focussing on the game at hand, they flew after each other, turning it into a quest to overturn the competitor. As they zipped between the stands, they forcefully flew into each other, Lucius successfully knocking Caspar so that he toppled and hung to the broom with a single hand. As Lucius escaped a backlash, Caspar swung himself up and back into flying form as he chased after his predator who had now become the prey. Losing sight of the target, Caspar came into contact with a bludger, but rather than letting the thump startle him, he took the opportunity to grab the little blighter and struggled against it until Lucius was back in view. He threw all his force into lobbing it in his direction; Lucius was too quick. He ducked and swiftly moved to the side, shooting upwards towards Caspar, grabbing hold of him as he passed and tearing him from the air. He tumbled, trying to grasp hold of his broom as he fell, missing it by a fingertip and plummeting to the Quidditch field. The landing echoed dimly throughout the stands as Narcissa stood motionless, unable to process or believe the turmoil she had just witnessed. They were tearing each other apart and the further they pushed each other to the edge, the closer she was to jumping off with them. Tears swelled in her eyes as Lucius shot off in his victory flight around the stadium, oblivious to Caspar laying motionless on the ground; either that or completely ignorant to him. Before she felt one roll down her cheek, she brushed the tears away with her hand and turned into the crowd which was in complete uproar, Slytherins shouting, Ravenclaws wide-eyed, hands over mouths. She shoved her way through, nearly knocking someone over and almost being knocked herself. She reached the top of the steps to the bottom and quickly drew a few deep breaths before hurtling herself downwards, trying to tread carefully on the spiralling stairs. She reached the bottom as a wave of nausea flooded her head and she held herself against the bannister as it passed. Only, the swell came back as she opened her eyes to Lucius trudging through the trampled grass towards her.

"Narcissa...", his tone was potentially explanatory, but she didn't have time for his lies and excuses. She batted past him, trying to use her force to knock into him, failing miserably.

"Just leave me alone Lucius!... You hurt him.. Possibly killed him! My best friend?!...", the sobs threatened again as she tried to bite her lip to stop it; Lucius' expression tainted with the hurt he'd caused her, yet again. He breathed out and his shoulders fell as his eyes rolled to the ground.

"I'm sorry...", his apology was missed as she was already storming away from him, her house scarf littering behind her in the wind, the breeze following onwards to him as it pulled wisps of blonde in various directions. And then he realised; he'd probably just lost every scrap of chance even a drop of liquid luck could produce, in winning her over, because he was so blinded by trying to win her over his team mate.

She sat in the seat at his bedside, her eyes working over the cut above his eyebrow, the bruise darkening into his cheekbone, the slight distortion of his bandaged arm, the bones broken from the mangled fall. She sighed, thinking the breathing was quiet but finding him gently waking to it. Her hand reached out for his, perhaps as a comfort, her inner self feeling dark with guilt at the way she'd treated him in Diagon Alley only yesterday. His reflexes tightened slightly around her fingers and a smile plastered across his face, a little lopsided from the pain relief.

"You came...", his eyes closed as he rested them again, the smile remaining. She first nodded, but then stupidly realised he couldn't see her anyway and so she hummed a 'mnhm', yet he did't respond for a few minutes. He seemed at peace, the abundance of potions prescribed to him working literal magic through his bloodstream. He whirred a little as he remembered their childhood together, memories he hoped he wouldn't forget and then it brought the pang to his heart and Narcissa saw the smile melt away. His forehead crinkled and his eyes seemed to squeeze tighter, trying to shut out whatever his mind was suddenly forcing him to think.

"Caspar?... Casp!", she shook his hand a little, his eyelids fluttering open, darting to the movement she'd made, "are you in pain?...", she needed an answer from him, because no matter how much she currently thought she despised him for his directional approach in the alley way, she couldn't watch him suffocating under the hurt. He began to shake his head, slowly as his eyes sprung hot tears, falling and burning against the graze on his cheek. Her face drained and she almost didn't dare ask him anything further.

"Narcissa...", he looked at her, trying to smile again and she smiled back to comfort him. The smile was lopsided, obviously still affected by the medication and so she thought to herself that perhaps he was simply delirious. "... Narcissa, I love you...", her hand removed itself from his loose grasp, pulling back to her lap. Her complexion continued to lose colour, heart beating but seemingly failing to bring any blood to the surface.

"What...", the silence seemed to stretch beyond the castle walls, yet they closed in on her, knocking the breath out of her but not stopping as she struggled for air between the closing space.

"I love you Narcissa.. Isn't it obvious?...", his hand tried to bring itself to her cheek gently, but she was already standing, almost collapsing back into the chair as her feet fumbled to find a clear path to run. Her pace quickened down the aisle of beds in the hospital wing, turning into a near sprint as she reached the end, turned the large doors and leant back against the wall. She'd let him come close, too close to her feelings and the little mess that was going on in her head and he'd stupidly fallen for her. It'd better explain the mishap in Diagon Alley; perhaps it hadn't been a misjudgement on his part afterall, only hers. Maybe she was the stupid one for missing the signs. Pushing back off the stone, she hurried into a messy pace, her legs trying to quicken but her mind trying to keep it under control, not to bring attention to her sudden chaotic frenzy. Reaching the first corridor towards the common room, her control gave in and let her legs carry her.


	5. Chapter Five

Her walking pace prolonged a staggered quickness; too fast for her legs to make smooth motions and so she envisioned herself looking rather unbalanced. Her mind was already in her room, quiet, dark and alone - she just had to try and collect those thoughts to enable her to get her body to the same place. The floor beneath her didn't seem to help her make the progress she wanted, as though it perhaps wanted to drag her back to Caspar's bedside and face the outright announcement he'd made. Potion-ed up or not, she knew from his face, the face she'd come to recognise from a mile off, that there was no joking in his declaration. Trying to make sense of it all, there had been a lack of concentration between her and her surroundings and she found herself almost missing the turn to the dungeons, bumping into another student and knocking his wand out of his hand. It was only when her foot almost made a snapping contact with the wood, that she had to take a further step to miss it and fell into it's owner. Eyes still connected to the ground, she hadn't realised that the person with whom she'd made a tangled mess, happened to be Lucius. He grabbed her elbow gently as she tried to make the getaway, pulling her around as she looked up to him, eyes glazed, blurry. His frown burrowing into his forehead held for a moment or two before he released his grip on her and bent down to collect the wand from the floor, before it met it's untimely death under another persons weighty step.

"Narcissa?...", the frown returned, lightly creasing the skin, eyes boring into hers, clashing. She gathered herself, turning her head to try and conceal her face from his view as she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. The radiating hot cramping in her legs from the forceful walk was starting to make it's presence known, yet she refused to give in to it. The rest of her body turned to align with her head and she continued the pace as she had done before, ignoring Lucius' concern and taking full flight towards the common room. He didn't pursue her but his mind wandered, mentally pursuing her thoughts to try and come to a conclusion as to why she'd been so unnerved. Thinking this, he took a seat in the bay of the nearest window, twisting the wand around between his hands. Judging by the direction in which she had been coming from, the hospital wing seemed the most obvious source of her melancholic expression and thus Caspar seemed to be the most rational explanation. Not usual, he thought; they were typically seen bounding around each other in those silly giggles and whispers, something he particularly despised. Not so much Narcissa, her laugh was slightly throaty and warming and the note it hit was almost tangible in his ears. It was the one thing he could tolerate, unlike most things, such as the laugh Caspar always gave her back. And the smile that went with it. Ravenous anger fluttered within his stomach, threatening to ignite a potentially pulverising punch into the wall. He held back however as a swarm of younger year girls passed by him, huddled in a whispering group, obviously having a very open discussion about him, well within earshot. He caught the attention of two of them at the back and giving them a wink as they went, they gasped and immediately tapped the shoulders of the others in front to inform them of the fact that Lucius Malfoy had just noticed them. He turned the remainder of the wink into an eye roll to himself and squeezed his eyes shut as he dropped his head to relax the muscles clenched in the back of his neck. He could have anyone he wanted, anyone at all, but the one he did, didn't possess a mutual feeling back.

She smashed through her bedroom door, banging it back on it's wearing hinges, almost taking it off the door frame. Not bothering to close it after her, she threw down her entire weight into her bed, burying her face into the commotion of sheets and pillows that had caught up with her as she'd taken the fall. Letting the tears run dry she slowly brought her face out of the dark, strands of single hairs puffing up around her face, crumpled into various directions. Allowing her eyes to refocus, the mascara smears on the pillows were quite obviously going to be staying there for a while as a nauseating reminder, staining the place where she thought she'd get away from the reality of the words he'd spoken. I love you. Maybe he'd just meant as friends? He loves her as a friend, but he wasn't IN love with her. Her mind mentally slapped her across the face. Don't be so stupid Narcissa. You know exactly what he'd meant when he said it, don't be a fool in front of yourself. The sting of the slap travelled to her heart as she turned around, feeling the presence of a watcher. Peering around to the door, just a glimpse of their hair was enough for her to snap up her wand and throw sparks in their direction.

"Leave me alone Bella!", she stuffed her face back into the pillows, adamant that no one would see her like this. Besides, Bellatrix generally made seething comments and nasty remarks; not exactly what she wanted to hear right now. Bellatrix however, had different ideas to her younger sister and backfired with a whispered 'alohomora', and breezed into the room, this time closing the door behind her. She came around to Narcissa's side of the bed, jumping down onto it as she sat in a bid to make her turn around. Failing, she prodded her firmly in the back. Narcissa snapped around, her hand flying in the direction of Bellatrix, swatting her away.

"He told you then?", Bellatrix threw her wand up in the air, casual and oblivious to Narcissa's steely angered expression, somewhat confused. Catching onto this as she caught the wand, she continued, "Caspar?...", she widened her eyes and she said his name, sarcastically hinting the obvious.

"You knew?", Narcissa, disgusted at this revelation, that her sister knew before her, spat her words. "Obviously. A blind dragon could've seen it Cissy, maybe it's time you manned up and dealt with it like 'a proper young lady'", she was sardonic in the impersonation of their Mother; screwing up her face at the last few words of her sentence, imitating her just as Narcissa did frequently. Narcissa dropped her head, her shoulders sinking with it, followed by her heart.

"It's for the best really... At least Mother and Father will approve?", Bella began to show a softer side. Of course, being hard on Narcissa was her upmost speciality and she always had a way of making her feel completely inferior. Despite this and the joy she usually gained from it, she had her sister's best interests at heart and tried to feather the blow of what Narcissa hadn't seen coming. "Ciss, you'll be okay...", she pulled her in, resting her head on top of Narcissa's. Narcissa remained a little stiff in the bizarre and unfamiliar embrace. "But we're just friends Bella, that's it and I don't want him to love me...", her voice quavered, another sob impending. "But he does and you'll come to accept it...", Narcissa pushed away from her, prolonging it so that she was forced off the bed. "You're as bad as the rest of them...", Bellatrix rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little,"if you mean your PARENTS...", Narcissa whipped her wand back around to Bellatrix who began warding off at the threat of a jinx, reaching the door and letting herself out. Sure that she was now safe from any further intruders, wanted or not, she threw the wand at the nearest wall. It bounced off and rolled along the floor, finding a new home under her bed. She lay back and stared at the ceiling, boring her eye contact into the small curls of paint which were starting to leave their fixed places. She found a hairline crack in the paintwork and followed it as it trailed the length of the room and down, disappearing behind her wardrobe. A whisper escaped her lips, 'mutara vestimenta', and the spell dissolved the clothes and robes she was in, her night wear appearing in place of them. She pulled back the sheets she was laying on top of and wriggled as far down as she could so as she could hide herself away, hitching the excess bedding up and over her head.

The fuzzy morning light broke through her window. Settling down onto her eyelids, the light stirred her from a patchy sleep. She woke steadily, grumbling as she did so, as the reminder of yesterday crept up on her from behind and pulled her back under the covers. She tried to sleep again, ignoring the fact that she had a full day of lessons; Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions and Potions Theory. Not the most elaborate range of lessons that would entice someone to rise for the day. Deciding to let herself wake gradually, she drifted in and out of a light sleep before finally staying awake for more than five minutes and folding back the covers, exposing herself to the day. She pulled herself up to sitting and sat there for a few more minutes, deciding in which order to take her morning routine. Finally climbing out of bed, she padded across the room to her bathroom, flicking the light switch as she entered and thinking to herself how 'muggle' that motion was.

The afternoon was slow in creeping up on her, the morning and it's lessons had made a prominent impact on her energy levels and she tried to blink through Charms before lunchtime. Finally finding herself sat in Potions Theory, she turned her book to the relevant page, 'Methodical Routes: Curation of Forgetfulness'. She found her eyelids weighting as she tried to focus on the initial paragraph being read by another student who kept making unfortunate grammatical errors and paused after every few words. With this grating on her annoyance, Narcissa found herself reading ahead, streaming through the words not bothering to understand them.

'Throughout the centuries, forgetfulness has been overlooked as a dangerous draft, perhaps perceived by some as an indication of weakness. Despite this, such a brew could formulate a disastrous end to those involved if used inappropriately, thus removing some of the controversy that such a potion may be used by those less powerful...'. The words blurred into a mess and she closed the book, the echoing slam a little louder than anticipated.

"Miss Black, is there something about this lesson that you find so uninteresting that you feel the need to ignore your reading material?", Professor Slughorn made his way over to her desk at the back, reaching her at the far end and standing with his arms crossed out in front of him. Slughorn, generally harmless and usually very understanding did not tolerate students who thought themselves greater than to pay attention in his lessons. As Narcissa flushed a silent berry shade, he reopened the book for her and slid it closer to her before returning to his desk. As the nominated reader began again where they had left off, Narcissa peered up through her lashes to see Professor Slughorn reach into his desk draw for a small piece of paper, jotting down a few words with his quill. As she focused on the tip, the scratching flooded into her ears, once again taking her mind off the lesson at hand. Slughorn raised an eyebrow and looked up at her from the writing and she quickly darted her eyes back to the relevant page, skimming the page for the words she was hearing.

As the faint sound of the large bell at the front of the school sounded, students began to rise from their seats and Narcissa, caught off guard by the end of the lesson, let her arm fall to the desk. Her head which had been rested in her hand, now took account for it's own dreary weight. She again, closed the book she'd been so uninterestingly eager to finish before and collected it off the table top as she began to leave her seat. She ended up being the last person of the bustle that was leaving the classroom and was held back by an intentional cough from her Professor. She paused and rolled her eyes to herself again, sighing as silently as she could before turning around, slouching. He was already only a step or two away from her and was handing her the scrawled piece of paper that she'd watched him scribble before being caught.

"First written warning of the year Miss Black..", as she unfolded the square note, the school crest appeared with the words 'FORMAL WARNING', written beneath in block capitals. She fiddled her fingers along the crease which had set, not responding to him. "It's not like you Narcissa..", he began to walk back to his desk, leaving her in the doorway, turning back around to her as he sat down to the essays he'd prepared for marking. "...You usually manage to make until at least the end of the year without one, if that", she turned to leave, assuming that the conversation and small lecture was now over. As she reached for the door handle to close it on him, he continued, "make sure you take that to the front of school for filing...", and he began marking the first paper as the door clicked on the lock.

She started in the direction of the school entrance hall, tucking the paper into her pocket as she did so, the large Potions book making itself awkward as she lugged it along with her. Keeping her head down to the ground watching her own steps, she reached the front office, tapping on the window. Madam Levesque appeared promptly, sliding the window across with her wand in order to speak to Narcissa. She passed her the warning note and received a disapproving look in the form of a raised eyebrow. "Wand?", Levesque held out her hand and Narcissa reached inside her robe to present her wand for 'scalding', as fellow students called it - the warning would be filed and a mark would be cast against the students' name in a register along with a mark against their wand. Three marks against them and their wands would be disabled for the agreed amount of time by the appropriate Professor; usually the one to give the last warning. The wood glowed a gentle faint red as it scalded and it was then handed back to Narcissa before Madam Levesque quickly swiped the window back shut, snapping it so that it jittered on the closing slam.

As she was walking back to the common room, she passed the great hall and already saw students started to sit for the evening, talking amongst themselves and she decided resolutely that that was the very last place she wanted to be. Making idle chit chat wasn't particularly a task she felt like rising to and so upon arriving at the common room entrance, she passed through and climbed the stairs to her room. She waited around for an hour or so until she could hear the bustle in the main area simmer down then she slipped back out of the door.

It seemed as though an entire kingdom stretched out before the castle. From the astronomy tower, she could breathe in the clearest air, all whilst looking down the lake, glittering as the sun gradually made a rich disappearance behind the rolling hills, shadowing them into a watercolour of reds. Impressive for a cool November evening. The look of it all certainly fooled her because as she stepped closer to the edge, leaning forward slightly over the railing, the bitter breeze caught against her skin and she retreated back. She took refuge behind a pillar, sitting down and resting her back against it. She sat there for what seemed an eternity, mulling everything over in her head, the near silence helping her to concentrate more that she had managed in the past couple of days. She closed her eyes to help her further, but was rudely interrupted by someone climbing the metal stairs of the tower, the clanging no doubt coming from another teacher about to give her a second warning for not being in The Great Hall. As the intruder on her personal thoughts began to emerge, there was no mistaking him. His eyes smouldered against hers as she caught the contact then quickly let it go, looking to her hands which were twiddling with each other.

"I thought I might find you here...", he slowly took a few steps towards her, hands in his pockets, the blonde hair glowing in the remainder of the setting sun, tumbling over his shoulders, a wisp or two floating on a gentle passing current. He stood about a foot from her, looking down towards her. It took her a minute or two to look up to him, her eyes burning, livid that he of all people came looking for her. "You did? And where did you find that out?..." Her words spat fiercely as she broke the look again. He crouched down to her, his head lowered and then he sat properly, one leg stretched out whilst the other was bent at the knee so that he could lean back on one arm and rest the other over the bent leg. His other supporting arm happened to be leant over her outstretched legs and she felt trapped in a situation; in a conversation he was obviously about to have with her that she didn't want to engage in. "Look I'm sorry... For everything...", her anger still pounded in her as he spoke but she didn't retaliate. Here came the apology and she wanted to hear it all, how potentially pathetic it was going to be and she wanted it uninterrupted.

"I shouldn't have done what I did, it was stupid.. So stupid. I just, can't let it go. Him and you... I know how he feels about you Narcissa...", she had to hold herself from an uproar. Was she the only one who didn't know about Caspar and his little fad with her? Perhaps the whole school knew and they'd been jeering at her behind her back whilst she laughed along with him completely and idiotically oblivious. The crying suddenly pranged into her eyes and her head fell forward into her hands, catching him off guard. He took the weight off the arm holding him up and leant forward, resting it on her leg. The contact softened her, warmed her blood to a smooth pumping liquid that engulfed her body, tingled into her limbs, beat her heart. It was an uncontrollable feeling, not something that anyone else had brought out in her and if she had to think of a specific person, then Caspar certainly hadn't ever made her glow like this. Her mind ticked back over into reality and he was talking again. "The thing is Narcissa, I'm jealous of him...", ha. She mocked him silently. Hardly surprising; Lucius Malfoy, jealous. As though the sky wasn't blue. She must've accidentally rolled her eyes, yet again for at least the third time that day, because his face fell and his gaze to the floor. He took his hand back and went back to leaning on it. "I'm jealous of him Narcissa because he loves you and can get close to you... You laugh with him and talk to him...", she winced at 'he loves you', slightly sickened again, the wave rolling back and forth in her stomach. "...But me, I love you too... But you keep your distance...", the slap was harder this time. Belting itself around her face, reigniting the mental mark that was placed there last night. Only this time, she didn't try to flee, the slap was warmed by her heart which was fluttering through her ribcage. She found her tongue as she pulled her knees up under her chin, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Why me Lucius?... You could have any girl in school..", he dropped his head again, a small smile playing on his lips as he shook his head. She instantly felt stupid; maybe he wasn't being serious and had only said it as a joke, but he carried on. "But I don't want 'any girl', I want you..". Caspar wanted her and she'd known him for years, since they were little. They knew each other inside out. It was understandable. Lucius Malfoy also wanted her, they'd barely spoken and most times, it had been whilst she was on the brink of tears. He'd almost killed Caspar. Confusion blurred the lines between what she could comprehend as right and wrong; being with Caspar made sense but felt entirely wrong, Lucius WAS entirely wrong but the forbidden felt so incredibly right. The confusion mapped onto her face, plotting between her features as her brow furrowed. Her mental state was clear to Lucius who moved closer to her and pulled at her arms to free her from the barrier she'd built up. He held her chin between the length of his forefinger and the pad of his thumb and used his other forefinger to rub the lines out of her forehead, smiling. "You need to frown less...", he gently poked her in the end of the nose with the smoothing-out finger before moving both hands to either side of her face, her heart beating second to none, her teeth nibbling at her bottom lip. "You can't both have me...", a little worry filled her eyes but his reflected into hers and calmed her, an effect which again, no one else had on her. "I know, but maybe I can help you decide...", his voice was low, soothing as he brought his lips into hers. She didn't try to dip out of the way like she had done with Caspar in the alleyway. That had panicked her, sent her flying out of his reach. This however was different. Even though her mind was shouting at her, telling her to stop and leave, her heart plummeted her lips full steam ahead into his. It was timid, him not wanting to push her too far and she not knowing how far TO go. It broke off gently and the air had calmed, the sun finally setting in it's last golden moments over the lake. She felt at peace. More so than she had not only in the past few days but the past few years. She felt wanted. As though she belonged. She'd always put up a fight of some sort, usually discreet, when a boy got too close, but she had just let Lucius in. Her mind was still screaming no at her but her heart tuned it out as she smiled at him and he matched it back.


	6. Chapter Six

She sat at the back of the classroom during Charms, purposely choosing the small desk next to the window so that she could let herself drift off into the fields surrounding the castle as the teacher droned on about yet another spell she'd already mastered perfectly. Sometimes she had to remind herself that she was an advanced year; you'd have thought they were all back in First Year the way Professor Caroban was going on. Her chin leant on the hand of her propped up arm, she willed her mind away, perhaps over the farthest mountain, anywhere away from yet the more puzzling thoughts taking up too much space than desired. He'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back. She hadn't wanted to but she had done so all the same. Her heart burned for him to do it again but her mind tried to be rational and sternly told her that no, she would not let herself fall into a fluttery mess each and every time he passed. It told her that this is probably how it happened with most girls; he'd confess some sort of ridiculous love for them, kiss them and if he liked it, he'd perhaps stick around for a week or two until the next came along. Perhaps that was all she'd been; the one after and the one before. The inbetween. The filler whilst he waited for another girl to catch his eye. Her heart sunk at her harsh thoughts. They were trying to work it out between each other, one trying to make her see she didn't belong with him, the other teasing her with the idea. As the lesson came to a close, her head suddenly had the upper hand and so she'd made up her mind. Lucius Malfoy certainly wasn't the one to go for. Looking at it statistically, he was a pompous, class-A stuck up, with far too much pride and money than he knew what to do with. Collecting her books, she slowed as she thought about this, her heart trying to punch back with the feeling she'd felt yesterday as he'd moved in closer to her; the warmth of his hands, his hot breath mixing with hers... STOP. She needed to try and get a firm grip on what was right. She thought of how her Mother would mock her for going for love rather than convenience. Love? That wasn't what this was surely? No. Remember, he probably says it to all the girls to reel them in on his sick, heart-breaking line. Her mind continued to chortle away, as she continued down the corridor from the Charms class, on her way to spend her next free hour in the Common Room. Finally feeling a little more settled that she'd made the 'right' decision, she followed the familiar route to the common room entrance, periodically checking whether her heart wanted to pipe up again with some loved-up words of wisdom. Turning the final corner, it was as though he'd been expecting her arrival. Having been so confident in what she needed to tell, she momentarily found herself panicking and her face no doubt showed this as the smile he'd had only a second ago had faded into the background. She leant a shoulder on the wall next to him, trying to keep the conversation a little more private as a few other Slytherins passed and fell silent as they continued through the door.

"Lucius...", her tone told him before her words had chance to. He shook his head, a spluttered sigh leaving his lips in disbelief. He shrugged at her, pushing for a further explanation of her complete indecisiveness. "I can't Lucius, I don't know what's right anymore... But I just think we'd be wrong... I'm sorry...", he seemed to be failing to hold his composure and she couldn't face a break down from a grown man in the middle of school. But she'd done it. She'd told him to basically forget the entire thing, what happened between them the night before. Surely this would lift the strangely suffocating weight off her shoulders? Was she so stupid that she thought it'd be that easy? That her heart would just give in? She felt herself flee for the Common Room, before he could make any remark; before she could take it back. Entering into the dimness, her entire body reflected it. Her shoulders sank as her stomach knotted and a slight nausea washed over her, dulling her expression. She felt a sting of tears light up behind her eyes and surrounded by yet more mindless chatter was the last thing she wanted to hear. Turning back around, she left the bustle, picking up her speed down the corridor and rather than turning out into the main hallway, she diverted out into the courtyard, taking a deep breath of the piercing air, before disapparating.

She found herself in the darkest corner of The Three Broomsticks. Not a place she'd typically choose to disappear to, but then again, that made it the least likely place people would come looking for her. Namely him. His sunken eyes smouldered themselves into the back of her mind so that they were continuously watching every other thought she had, striking up the note in her heart which made her bottom lip tremble. Feeling it start, she tried to pull herself back, trying to forget about him. Slipping into the darkness that surrounded her, she folded her arms across the table and leant her head into them, blocking it out, screaming at everything silently, trying to ward off the thoughts which provoked her every emotion. It wasn't supposed to be happening like this; she wasn't meant to be collapsing in on herself, regretting what she'd said, wishing she'd never done what she did. Wishing with all her might she could go back and give everything to him. Take a chance. Perhaps the weight she'd be so eager to free herself of, wasn't her wanting to tell him she couldn't be with him, but her heart so heavily desperate for him and she'd been selfish to it by driving him away.

"You're one of the Blacks...", the voice cracked the intended silence, scratching the notes so that Narcissa was forced to come back up for air to prevent damage to her hearing. She peered up to find an old woman, crouching low, obviously from old age, the other side of the table. The woman, staring at her with great intrigue, crept slowly closer to the table, resting a hand on the scratched surface, old age almost camouflaging her skin into the oak. Her fingers, crooked, were home to a various array of rings. Ornate pieces, intricately carved; they were mystical almost, where they came from, how they came to be owned by such a woman and why they were now only inches from Narcissa. Remembering she was suddenly in someone's company, Narcissa cast a gaze upwards to meet the other's eyes. Dark, sullen. Grey yet glinting in the sparse light, lined by the creases of age and wisdom.

"Yes.. One of the Blacks...", the voice lured Narcissa in this time, her ears working past the lacerating voice, hearing past it to unfumble the words. "You never know what's good for you... You think you can push it away... It'll come back to you on the darkest of days...", She tried to interpret this woman and what she was saying, although the more she tried to listen, the less anything made sense and so Narcissa put it down to her being a mere traveller; most probably deluded and looking for some sort of compensation from Narcissa from giving her a 'reading'. "You'll realise it soon enough... You might wish it to, but your heart cannot bluff...". Narcissa began to feel somewhat uneasy, perhaps because people were starting to look over in her direction and so she shuffled along the seat to the end of the table, breaking the eye contact she'd been drawn in to, trying to make a dignified break for it, before this woman could make any more suspected speculation. Unfortunately, as Narcissa reached the end, the gypsy shot to the end of the table in a blurred motion, cutting off any escape route she'd had planned. She took Narcissa's arm; the jewellery cool against her skin, imprinting the patterns into her flesh. "You can't run away from him like you try to with me... You find yourself following him through a thoughtful sea...", her face drew closer to Narcissa's and she retaliated by trying to lean farther back, the woman only closing the proximity as she did so. Fear sloshed through her veins, channelling along with the adrenaline of needing to get out of The Three Broomsticks. "You can run but you'll never hide... Destined to be the bad faith bride...", Narcissa used force to push back, as the ancient smile crept eerily along the woman's mouth. She stood, noticeably taller than the fortune teller and stumbled past her as the woman gave her a last glaring look. She hurried, banging out of the door into the storm which was swelling a large puddle close to the entrance. As she drew in the cool air, her mind reeled at the words spoken to her, 'it'll come back you on the darkest of days', 'destined to be the bad faith bride'. Momentarily resting her thoughts to enable to her to disapparate back to the castle, she agree with herself not to think into it too much; after all, when did Narcissa start believing in old wives' tales and travellers predictions?

The next few days were distant. A long stretch away from Caspar and Lucius, not wanting to acknowledge them or their efforts to speak to her, help her in class or give her a passing smile in the corridor. With Caspar now back in classes, she used most of her energy to ward both of them off, leaving her fighting closing eyelids at most desks throughout the school. Retiring to her room at night didn't give her any relief. In fact, if anything, her mind worked harder at night; she was alone again and so it had the bare opportunity to take control of her thoughts. It wove itself between all three of them, particularly those two, throwing her between them like a ragdoll; no life in her to stop it trying to make her choose.

Whilst mulling over the thought of her thoughts, the person next to her jabbed her arm, maybe a little harder than intended.

"Narcissa, you can't ignore me forever...", she glared at him, lips pursed. Caspar's face mimicked her yet it eyes were harder against hers.

"Yes I can and I fully intend to", she turned her attention back to the front of the classroom, attempting to copy down more of the notes. Caspar gave up and also went back to his own work, their quills completely out of sync as they scoured the parchment. As the ink dwindled off the tip, the words forming more smoothly as she kept the fountain end fed, the words of the traveller began to merge into the essay. Destined to be the bad faith bride. Bad faith bride. She played around with the words, failing to construct any sort of anagram which may lead her to the understanding of the riddle. Bad faith, bad faith... Her forehead crinkled trying to decipher the meaning, momentarily remembering that her parents were coming to visit her that evening; something else that had pounced on her this morning after her mail was delivered to her room. No doubt their last minute announcement was to check up on the education of their youngest daughter. And by education they meant finding their daughter her future husband. The thought quickly reminded her of how they continuously controlled her; perhaps not directly if they could help it, a firm hint here or there. Like the time they'd persuaded her to take Latin as a hobby-subject during the school holidays, convincing her it would 'broaden her horizons'. The foreign words ticked over, one after the other as boredom took hold. Amor, lepor, dolor, mal, foi...

Mal. Foi. Malfoy. Bad faith. Destined to be the Malfoy bride. Her heart skipped itself, more than once she was sure of it. Adrenaline pumped into her veins, the blood flow circling it around quicker than she desired. It drained from her head along with everything else she'd been thinking of and the dizziness caused her to stumble the quill along the paper. It slipped along in a scraping line, ruining any intention she'd made of following the lesson notations. She felt herself slip to the side, drifting out of a weak consciousness into a very real and sickening dark.


	7. Chapter Seven

The candles warmed her room through, the lulling light calming her earlier realisation. Beneath a charm from her wand, the furniture and loose belongings straightened themselves out, preparing for an imminent visit. As the wand rested itself back down onto the small table by the door, a knock drummed against the wood and before she had time to protest, the handle turned and the visitors made themselves known.

"Narcissa, nice to see you", her Father, Cygnus Black, happened to be a rather bulky man; not so in the way of muscular definition, but perhaps one too many pumpkin cupcakes now and again. Her Mother, however, leaned towards the more slim side, both age and this trait gently hollowing her cheeks under the cheekbones. Narcissa stood from her sitting in the bay of the window, greeting them with no more than a small nod, barely noticeable through the soft light. Her Mother made her way over to her, cupping her face gently and placing a hardened peck of a kiss on her cheek.

"Now Narcissa, aside from school work...", her Father messily gestured with a shirt collared hand towards her desk, the books piling so that the first within reach was at risk of toppling. A quill scrattled along the parchment, absent minded in a world of it's own, as Narcissa had broken the concentration of what she'd wanted it to write. "We have other matters to discuss regarding your very near future", removing his wand from the silk lined inside pocket of his tweed jacket, he conjured one chair and then another, taking a seat in the first. Following suit with her parents, Narcissa took the remaining seat at her desk and as the quill stopped and dropped itself, she leant forward onto her hands, resting her chin in the them as her arms propped up the weight. "Narcissa, your Mother and I have been thinking that, now would be a good time for you to pick a future suitor..", the raising of his left eyebrow left Narcissa knowing all too well that by 'for her to pick', meant that they most certainly already had someone in mind, "...Caspar Aldrich certainly meets the mark", and there you have it. Once again her mind effortlessly predicted her parents intentions, although it wasn't incredibly difficult. Her gaze lowered a little as she tried to ignore the name they'd pushed upon her. Caspar. It wasn't an awful pairing, he was good to her; he'd always had her best intentions at heart. But something stopped her. Stopped her from simply agreeing with them. Her heart hadn't fluttered, the thought of being Mrs. Caspar Aldrich hadn't filled her with absolute, ecstatic excitement. The entire situation dulled her, faded her out and smudged her into yet another name on a marriage certificate - in it for the convenience. Her face screwed slightly, something her Mother usually put a stop to, and yet again her parents didn't fault her.

"Narcissa, please don't do that - a young lady like yourself shouldn't be seen to make such faces", Narcissa let the creasing stop, which only dropped her expression into grey. Lifeless, eyes still staring at the desk.

"You could at least look a little happier about the situation Narcissa, we've done all the hard work for you. Caspar has the money, the name..", and anger tainted her lifeless feeling. Done the hard work for her? The hard work would be having to live with a decision they'd made, something she had no say in, with someone she had no interest in.

"I don't want to", she bit back and they were instantly unnerved, shocked by the revelation that their daughter was suddenly coming out of her shell and giving them cheek, as they would most presumably call it.

"You'll do as you're damn well told young lady", her Father had zipped to her desk-side and had grabbed her arm, pulling her a little too close so that the cigar smell he carried around with him, lingered in the back of her nose as she stood and pulled back against him to make a small distance between them. Her Father's eyes glared, horrified by this sudden attitude Narcissa had adopted. Druella stepped up behind him and tucked a small hand into the crook of his arm, trying to pull him away. "Cygnus, please, she'll realise soon enough it's for the best..", Cygnus brushed off his wife's gesture, puffing out his chest in a bid to bring authority over his youngest daughter again. "Yes, yes she certainly will", muttering a small charm under his breath, the chairs dissolved into the air, Narcissa slamming herself back down into hers, throwing her head into her arms which flailed huffily into crossed arms before her. She buried her face, determined not to give them eye contact as she heard them leave. The click of the door brought her face, tear stained, out of the darkness. For once, her mind finally made two decisions and those two things became very certain, the reality of them the most alive things she'd felt in the recent weeks; number one - she and Caspar were obviously going to be together, whether she liked it or not. And number two? The first realisation most certainly meant that her encounter in the Three Broomsticks, was most certainly a waste of the time she'd spent trying to decipher the riddle. And thirdly, as the thought began to arise in her mind; as much as she suddenly wanted him, Lucius Malfoy certainly wasn't going to be hers.

"They wouldn't really make you Cissy, don't be so silly-", Bellatrix tried her best to show some sort of sympathy, somewhat empathising with Narcissa, who kept pushing in with the most morbid of thoughts.

"But they will Bella, you should've seen him - he's set his sights on Caspar... I just can't do it Bella, I can't!", she sat in the same place she had been whilst learning about her future fate. Arms crossed on the desk, face buried into them, seemingly becoming a more common position for her to be in. Bellatrix sat cross legged on the bed, pulling at a loose thread which usually, Narcissa would've asked her to stop with, but unfortunately for the throw, Narcissa wasn't on her usual 'perfectionist' guard today.

"Well you can do one of two things-", Bella jumped off the bed, landing with a louder than usual thump on the floor boarding. Bellatrix wasn't usually one to be graceful and dainty; Narcissa had inherited that. She stepped over to her sister, pulling her head up under her chin with one hand whilst roughly wiping away the tears with the other thumb.

"-You can go with them, marry Caspar, or, go against them.. Follow your heart", Narcissa frowned a little not sure if Bellatrix was mocking her or not.

"What would you do?", Bellatrix smiled, a devilishly rebellious grin which hinted at the answer before she'd even responded.

"I'd follow my heart - they'll try and control you Cissy, but if you really want to be happy, you're going to have to make them unhappy", she shrugged a little as she dropped her hand from under Narcissa's chin, her head bowing slightly before taking account for it's own weight.

"It's pretty simple really..", her heels clacked against the wood as she made for the door, turning around and shrugging again before swiftly letting herself out of the room. Narcissa tiptoed around the subject in her mind a little before she threw herself in. She thrashed against both ideas and all possibilities. Sighing and abruptly giving up for now, she rubbed her eyes again, ridding them of any tear residue and disapparated herself.

She popped up in the middle of a bustling corridor, thankfully not right under the nose of a teacher like last time; such a thing was usually frowned upon and considered a potential hazard, especially in the crowding of the corridors between lessons. She made her way towards Charms, bumping into a few students as she went; mainly the younger ones who were usually so lively they'd end up putting themselves into her path and she wouldn't have time to dodge out of the way.

As usual, Charms dragged. A single hour appearing much longer than it should do and Narcissa found herself suspecting that perhaps the lesson itself was charmed. Drawn out by magic so that more talking could be done about the theory behind levitation and other pointless modules she'd rather not pay attention to. As the distant bell finally called students to leave for their next class, she followed the bustle back out into the corridor, catching a glimpse of just the person she'd wanted to talk to. His blonde hair disappeared around the corner as she hurried her legs along to a light jog to try and catch up with him. Her heart pounded and she couldn't decide whether it was from the physical exertion or the adrenaline. She just about caught him, his name catching in her throat so that she had to swallow as she slowed to a walk and repeat it. He spun around, a little surprised to see her initially, but then he seemed to press his expression down to seriousness, waiting for some sort of explanation from her as to why she was seemingly stalking him.

"Lucius, I need to speak you.. Right now", her assertion towards him raised his left eyebrow, his eyes looking her up and down. She pulled him the arm into the closest narrow corridor which happened to be a step or two away. She pulled him further in, willing the entrance to the alley to close and as she did so, a blurred barrier sectioned them off so that they could see out but should anyone look their way, they'd see a continuation of the stone masonry. He leant back against the wall, arms crossed over his stealthy chest, expression blank.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said... I didn't mean it, I don't think-", as she was closing her eyes to shake her head a little, he cut her off, " 'I think', doesn't mean anything to me Narcissa, you're in or you're out - but don't worry about stabbing me in the heart, you've already done it once-", he left her and walked back out into the corridor, leaving the barrier that had been shielding them broken. The words she'd momentarily prepared stood at the forefront of her mind, about to roll off her tongue which may have soothed his heartache. She'd ruined him; and there it was, the pain he'd felt from her bled back into her own system, flooding through the gateway, running along in her veins, spiking her very being. Her pulse thudded along, caught off-guard by the realisation of her own denial towards him. The feeling forced her to go after him and as she turned into the corridor like he had done just before her, the familiar glimpse of him at the farther end eased a little of the painful adrenaline, the urgency to get to him. It surged her along the corridor, therefore making her reach him in good time, before he conveniently escaped through his arithmancy classroom door.

"Lucius!", she pulled his arm, meaningful with force and his brow furrowed as he turned to her, puzzled at who had been pursuing him.

"Narcis-", he began to plainly explain for her to leave him alone, but failed to complete the sentence as she butted in. "Lucius, listen to me, I'm sorry, I really am... But I can't I just take it back? Can't I just be with you?", she was exhausted and finally let her body give in, her mind collapsing as the words tumbled out. She was finally letting go of the control she tried to resume and the rush was welcomed in her bloodstream; it strangely warmed her and she felt somewhat weightless, not a single care in the world. A little light lit his face, but the furrowing brow over his piercing eyes drained out the glow.

"Narcissa, I am not here to be decided between or to be played with. I perhaps saw you as being able to make the right decision, but instead you have flickered between me and him and it's not something I am prepared to put up with...", his tone was formal; something she'd never really encountered with him, "... Now if you will excuse me-", he moved her to the side in a swift motion of a single hand to each of her shoulders. It coursed through her again; the frustration of not being able to get to him, to punch him in the heart yet again and make him want her back, just like had done previously. But then again, it pulled her back, shaming her for having been so ridiculous in front of him and once again, the control tried to push her around as she held back the tears and leant back against the wall.


	8. Chapter Eight

The day had dawned, more dismal than the one before. Clouds covered a vibrant sky, but even the sun didn't try to burst through. It had given up. Just like she had done with trying to work everything out in her mind, yet again. the thoughts had worn down any form of rational thinking and therefore, each word and scenario repeated itself, over and over, playing out before her. She tried to be rational, adult about the situation, she tried to press for an answer as though her thinking would suddenly present the right way forward without her even having to think. No such luck. It was all well and good growing up surrounded by magic. Sparks of energy produced by wands could however, only do so much. Sometimes, things had to sort themselves out, work it out the hard way. The muggle way, I suppose you could say.

Shutting off that part of her thinking, she sighed, reached for the small pile of books waiting on her desk, swung open the door and headed out. It was unusually early for her considering she didn't have any classes until noon, however she had decided the library may be the best place for her thoughts to be right now, burying itself into another time and place amongst the books and stories available to her. Most of the time, she was grateful that her parents had been generous (not to mention wealthy enough), to pay for her own private bedroom whilst studying at Hogwarts, but sometimes, the isolation was too much. The quiet of just sitting there could be louder than the bustle of the library if she wasn't careful about keeping her thoughts in check. The library however, drowned out some of that background noise. Despite the request to keep quiet whilst visiting it's paper stacked walls and shelves, there would always be the odd giggle, a whisper, the telling of some scandalous rumour to listen in on. If you sat quietly enough yourself, you could tune into the whirrings of everyone else's minds, taking the spotlight off yours for a while.

She walked the length of the corridor, leading to the common room, which on arrival, was a little more sparse than she'd been expecting. Crossing the room to the main door, she clicked the lock and let herself out, just in time for the change over of lessons. She was caught in a buzz of people, some moving quickly enough for her, others dawdling so that she had to push past them a little if she wanted any hope of getting anywhere before Christmas. She was getting almost to the end of corridor stretch when a young first year, stupidly waving his wand around, almost took a nasty stab at her. Accidentally of course, but it was just convenient that there was an opening in the corridor that she could escape through. It led her into the main courtyard where the drizzle had subsided for a few minutes. She paused, collecting her thoughts on where she'd been headed. The library. Starting in the direction of her destination, she'd barely stepped away from the archway she'd emerged from when someone cut off her path.

"Narcissa-", it was Lucius, obviously. Fate kept clashing them together. Unfortunate for her, the encounter twisted her feelings back into her heart where it pounded for a moment or two, unsure of what he might say next. His brow, furrowing as usual so that his eyes became shadowed, rested the lines in his forehead momentarily as he began to make a proposition, "perhaps, we could talk?".

"Now isn't really the time Lucius, sorry-", her offhanded approach simply replicated the way he'd been with her yesterday and she diverted her next forward step to the right in a bid to get around him and continue the path she'd been set on. Predicting this move, he too stepped with her, blocking her from going anywhere.

"Now is the time Narcissa-", he grabbed her arm again and pulled her in. His sudden domination of her propelled a sudden fear within her. He seemed to grow in size and his eyes became deeper; black and dark enough to drown in. A pool of ink in which could easily die a woeful death, spilling out her heart to him in little more than a thousand words.

"Get off me-", her teeth gritted as she tried to pull back against him again but his grip encased her arm, the crumpling robes imprinting a fabric print into her flesh. "Lucius-", her voice attempted to remain hushed but the panic of his control over her, set in. "Lucius please, you're hurting me..", she twisted her arm as people started to stop and stare. How could he possibly think he had a certain control over her? After he'd brushed her off the day before like just another one of the girls' whose heart he'd broken yet again.

"Narcissa, stop acting like a child, you're going to make a scene..", he pulled her again so that her face was almost pressed uncomfortably against his, the whispers of others accumulating in her ears.

"I'm not a child!", she exclaimed louder than intended and the whole school seemed to stop. One or two students bumped into each other as the corridor came to a standstill, the faint clatter of a wand dropping to the floor as utter intrigue captured every living concentration. He let her go, his hand still moulded into the shape it had formed around her. She hugged the books tighter, remembering she still had them as a barrier between her and him. She stepped away from him, tears glaring in her eyes, she stifled a gentle sob as she turned away from him to run back down the corridor and through the common room door where she could slam herself through to her bedroom and stay there indefinitely.

"So why can't you just make an adult decision, Narcissa?", he called across to her as she'd turned. Now he was the one making the scene. A scene she'd preferably avoid but had no choice but to be cast in and how very dare he? Humiliate her in front of her peers simply because he appeared to have changed his mind on her. 'I'm not here to played with'; yet here he was being the hypocrite and toying with her every emotion. The impending thrall of anger, directed at him, overcame her. It surged through her muscles, spasming down her arms causing her to throw the books to the ground. They tattered against the stone, the spines scuppering as they dragged against the harsh texture. She paused. Eyes closed. Breathing in deeply, trying to resume calm.

"What're you all waiting for? Some sort of argument?", she hadn't even realised that it came from her lips it happened so fast. She aimed it at the students surrounding them. She didn't want an audience and she certainly didn't want him to have the satisfaction of people watching. They began to clear, hushed voices astonished as they headed for lessons. On cue, as she waited to be alone, the heavens opened. A trickle at first as she turned back around to him, half hoping he'd cleared off with them too.

"What do you want from me Lucius?", she begged him softly, her arms dropping to her sides, a frown forming on her forehead as the rest of her face mirrored exhaustion, the drizzle draining the colour, fading out her cheeks, a single rain drop catching her mascara and smudging.

"I want an answer from you. Do you want to be with me?", his tone only brought the rain down faster, matting his hair vividly against his black robes. They stood there, in utter dismay.

"I TRIED TO TELL YOU YESTERDAY LUCIUS!", as she screamed at him, letting it all out, the roar of the rain continue to drench them, a split of thunder rumbled amongst the castle turrets, deepening the grey between them. "But you didn't seem particularly bothered, then my heart tells me one thing and my mind another! I can't tell if you're good for me because I lose all control when I'm with you and I can't stand it! It's like free falling and I can't stop it!", her voice was loud and desperate against the weather. She had to squint slightly to avoid her eyes being attacked by unwanted water. He walked closer to her.

"So just let it happen-", he was softer this time, as though he understood what was happening to her on a level she couldn't. He was almost comforting as he held her head between his hands, running a thumb over her cheek to try and clear the running mascara but only making it worse.

"I did Lucius... I did and you pushed me away!", her face started to screw and then settled again as though deciding that crying would be pointless in the downpour.

"I'm sorry-", she had to turn away, removing his hands from her face with hers. His face was pained, thumped in the chest, ripped up inside. Perhaps if he'd been sorry earlier, she wouldn't find herself fleeing from him; running away from any further pain he could potentially cause her. But then as she turned away from him, her sorrow reflected itself onto his face, eyes sullen.

She ran. His face buzzing in the back of her mind, thumping her heart to run faster, forgetting to breathe. Tears blurred the path she was taking and so she relied on her familiarity of the castle to take her back to her room. Or maybe not her room. The library? She had no conscious thought of where her legs were carrying her, but they burned. Her shins ached as she ran faster through the stone walls. She was grateful however, that no one had seemingly stuck around to see the outcome of the rather public outburst. Before she knew it, her legs were slamming her into the door of the girls bathroom. As she reached the far sink, she crumbled to the floor; the weight of running scattering her bones in ways she'd previously thought unfathomable. Unable to control the force with which she fell, the momentum quickly threw her head plummeting in to the nearest hand basin, hitting her almost between her eyes. As the initial shockwave of pain radiated across her forehead, she pushed herself to sitting against the wall and momentarily looked to see how much damage she'd done to the stationary object. Through dizzying and blurred vision, she noticed a small trickle of blood and then reaching up to the mirror as she slowly stood, she noticed a larger droplet forming on her head. Suddenly sickened by it's crimson shade, she instantly felt woozy and once again she was plummeting back to the Earth, sight blackening to nothing.

Waking up to a bright light that seared the pain through to the back of her eyes, she blinked to try and regain some consciousness. A figure blurred to the side of her, recognisable only as who she thought was Caspar, and as her vision dulled and cleared, her thoughts were confirmed. She drew a short breath, only so because her chest tightened as she did so, restricting any further intake. His hand squeezed hers as she did and only then was she aware of the sticky heat between his and hers, and her absolute want and need to break the pairing. Her fingers wriggled, but through his unusually steely grasp, her efforts were unsuccessful. The desperation to make him let go flustered her breathing and she found herself gasping for the air, slowing to an easier pace as he loosened the grip.

"Narcissa?", he question seemed as though he was about to make her a proposition, probably something she wouldn't like and so she was there, trying to breathe again and shaking her head in a pre-meditated response.

"I, can't, Casper-", the tightness stuttered her words through gently gritted teeth, her lips parting only a little as her face crumpled in pain, her hand which had been in his, reaching to her ribcage.

"It'll be okay... As you were falling, you fell into the sink... Your ribs took most of the impact...", she was shaking her head again at his answer, frustrated that he'd confused her 'can't' for 'can't breathe', rather than what she'd really meant.

"No, Caspar... I, can't, be... With, you-", the internal bruising continued to swallow her words before she had time to draw breath, resulting in a rather lengthy and heartbreaking announcement. For him at least. But despite his face falling to the ground and his eyes starting to glaze, the relief she'd been waiting for flooded through her. It warmed the liquid running through her veins, her heart seemed to finally regain a calmed pattern of beating and she knew he wasn't the one. After momentarily closing her eyes, she peered back to him, expecting to see a broken man. Instead, however, his face was stern, not a trace of the disappointment she'd witnessed a second or two ago. He simply nodded once to her and walked away, his normal pace carrying him farther from her beside. He'd been there when she woke and she'd sent him away. A little guilt spiked the fluid circulating her every limb, the feeling causing pins and needles in the tips of her fingers of the hand he'd been holding. It rose up to her forehead, the tingling running down her arm before disappearing at her shoulder. Her fingertip traced the now, partially healed cut, forming a slight raise in her skin.

"It won't scar dear-", Madam Pomfrey was bustling around the other bed, folding the sheets at the corners in a typical envelope fashion. Narcissa's hand dropped to the bed beside her, a little weakness causing it to do so. She leant her back to rest against the pillows; she sank down into them, her mind resting for what felt like the first time all year, until it was interrupted yet again by Madam Pomfrey, who had made her way to her bedside.

"You'll be well enough to go back to your dorm this evening - just be careful of those ribs, you took quite a nasty tumble", she began to clear the various bottles that had adequately accumulated on the bedside table, aids for Narcissa's healing, whisking them away with a spell or two, so that they cascaded upwards towards their relevant shelves and cabinets above the beds.

"What happened?-", Narcissa questioned the incident for the first time, suddenly caught out as she tried to remember the fall and realised she couldn't quite place it in her memory.

"Well, you were in quite a state dear-", Madam Pomfrey began smoothing out the bedsheets, gently re-plumping the pillows as she filled in the missing pieces on what Narcissa had forgotten; probably due to the bump on the head. "-Professor Slughorn noticed you hadn't turned up for his entire Charms Theory class and presumed you were skipping the lesson, until Evelyn Amasqua mentioned she'd seen you running into the girls bathroom-", she took a gentle seat on the edge of the bed, taking Narcissa's hand lightly between hers. "Then, we found you, on the floor- Only on closer inspection did we presume you'd simply passed out and bumped into the sink-", she patted the top of Narcissa's hand with her own, comforting the despairing look now tracing it's way across her expression; she'd inconveniently remembered the reason for her running - Lucius.

"Anyway, not to worry, you'll be back up in your own bed in an hour or two-", she stood to leave as Narxissa forced her eyes shut, the pillows once again sinking down and engulfing her into her dreams.

She crept out of bed, her bare feet pattering down onto the floor, stepping slowly over to the bathroom door. Clicking her fingers to light the candles, the flames flickered against the dark marble, casting soft glows upwards and onto her skin. She stood in front of the mirror. Her eyes were a little darkened, the skin gently shadowed and bruised underneath. The cut on her forehead barely a scratch in the surface. She lifted the hem of her silk camisole, the bandaging beneath blending in with her porcelain complexion. She untucked the loose end, gently unwrapping as she let the entirety of her chest expand from the previous tightness. The bruising bled into the usual perfection. Tainted from the fall, patching an inking over her skin, around to her back where it leaked down her spine. Madam Pomfrey had said to let it heal naturally, it'd only take a few days. But the ugly marks and the close proximity of her wand made for almost undeniable temptation to soothe the sores. Shaking her head a little as though to knock some sense into herself, she rewrapped herself, ensuring the tightness remained so that her bones and the muscle tissue would heal back correctly. She signed, clicking her fingers again as the light died down, the only remaining fragments coming from the mid-winter sunset outside her window. Trailing over to look out, she sat down in the bay and opened the pane so that the air cut in. The coolness filled her lungs and made it easier to breathe in. She focused on the dull twinkle of the ripples on the lake as the sun continued to set, casting a blue haze over the castle. She noticed a movement closer down at the edge of the water, a shimmer of platinum. Closing the window, she reached for her coat, draped over her desk chair, and left her room.

She trudged along the slightly soggy bank of the lake, cautious not to take another tumble, her bruised ribs slowing her down as she tried to hurry as best she could to the spot where she'd seen him. Reaching the jetty at the farthest point, her heart sank a little with disappointment at not finding him in time and so she paused for a moment, before turning around to head back to the safety of inside. As she did, she felt eyes upon her from further up the bank, underneath a bare tree, frozen of it's leaves. Her head twisted back to investigate, doing so a little to quick and her arms flung to her chest, stifling the sharp stab of pain. He was there, leant back against the tree, sat down at it's roots, eyes now closed. She drew as deep a breath as she could and followed the almost-obvious path up towards him.

Her footsteps falling silent, she stopped in front of him, waiting for him to open his eyes again. "Why are you out here?", her probing forced his attention and the icy blues hit her back.

"I could ask the same about you-", he began to get up, not wanting to be at a lower level than her, trying to remain stern after their last encounter. "-It's not particularly wise for someone like yourself to be out, especially with injuries like-", she gasped a quick, sarcastic laugh, somewhat disgusted as he tried to continue an upmost pompousness towards her. She shook her head as she cut him off mid sentence, "just shut up Lucius. This is because of you, you know... If you'd just listened to me the first time-", she kept her hands in her pockets and shrugged a little, feigning off yet more threatening tears and a quivering voice.

"Perhaps if you'd made you mind up properly-", he kept going, hitting back at her effortlessly, as though he didn't want her to be here talking to him, as though he was pushing her away yet again, to simply be on his own.

"Fine-" she span around, the pain crippling her again slightly as she retraced her path away from him. She half expected him to follow initially, but hearing mo footsteps, she carried onwards. Only when she reach the main path again, did he raise his voice so he was within earshot.

"I still love you Narcissa-", she stopped. Pausing. Catching her breath in her restricted lungs, her heart propelling and needing more oxygen than she could supply. She slowly turned around to him as he disapparated down to her, appearing only a footstep or two away from her. He quickly closed the gap, cupped her head with his hands - cold from the weather - and rested his forehead against hers, the remains of the cut melting away under his touch.

"I still love you... And I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry-", her eyes met his as she swallowed heavily, gulping air at the same time and taking in his scent, woody and tinged with a gentle spice against the Earth around them. A single tear escaped his lashes as he became ultimately vulnerable to her. She brought her hands out of her pockets to reach up and rest them onto his wrists. "I'm sorry, and I hope... I NEED you to forgive me...", his words became slightly staggered as he tried to stop an imminent breakdown if she was to completely deny him herself and everything. "I need you Narcissa...", she didn't hesitate. She didn't need to and she didn't want to. Everything she'd been denying herself flooded through every barrier she'd put up. It hit with force and didn't stop until she reached her lips up to his, timid in her sudden advance. She didn't feel the guilt she had done before. She wanted the feeling to warm her through against the bitter cold of the rapidly falling darkness of night, and there, in the midst of it all, he made her glow against him.


	9. Chapter Nine

A warming rasp knocked the wood of her door, gently echoing as she unlocked it with a mere finger-click, welcoming the visitor inside. He turned into her room, barely opening the door far enough as the slight breeze from the corridor caught a wisp of his hair. The platinum strand fell back into place, following the rest of it in a casual flick over the black shoulder of his Slytherin sweater. He pushed the door back to, as he turned back to her, quickly ensuring no one had seen him enter, not only a girls' room, but that of Narcissa Black. She'd only come to find him by the lake a week or so ago and already the rumours surrounding them were rife throughout the school; surprisingly so then, that they hadn't made the morning papers the way people were going on about it. He took a seat on the edge of her bed, leaning against the oak poster, watching her tip-toe around the room. Still in her night wear, she gathered numerous clothing items from her wardrobe and the chest of drawers in the far corner. Her hair still a little misplaced from sleep, but gently resting over one shoulder, the black intertwining within the blonde. Tucking a strand that had fallen loose, back behind her ear, she closed the bathroom door on him, not saying a word. A few minutes later she emerged, school uniform taking the place of her night wear, which he spotted pooled behind her on the floor. Her hair which had now been shaken back into place, with a little help from a hairbrush, was tumbling over both shoulders, a small section from each side pinned back. Again, not giving him any significant eye contact or acknowledgement, she leant close into the mirror resting on her dressing table. Picking up the closest eyeliner, she carefully flicked the liquid along her lashes and out at the end; her usual routine. Her porcelain skin already perfected by too-good-to-be-true genes, she finished by brushing mascara from root to tip, her eyes bright against the sharp of the black. Opening the top drawer of the dresser to pull everything quickly back in, in an attempt at tidying, he stepped up behind her, entangling his arms through hers and wrapped them around her stomach. She turned around to him in the close embrace, resting her hands on his biceps, the muscles tensing slightly at the touch. She slowly looked up to him, peering up through her new lengthy lashes.

"Can I have a kiss now?", it was bizarre for Lucius. Asking her permission. He was very much the type of person to simply jump in head first, regardless of others, their perceptions and feelings. He'd certainly hurtled through the past couple of weeks. Falling head-first, head-over-heels for her. But along with this, he'd found respect for someone. Not because she didn't stand herself up to him; it was more the opposite. She was still timid in the relationship, not quite knowing his or her own boundaries and so she was rather reluctant to go along with his forwardness. Perhaps that's why he valued her and her feelings the way he did - he was scared that pushing her too far would scare her away. Thinking this, she reached her lips up and placed a quick gentle kiss against his, before wriggling out of his grasp. He couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed. He was still waiting for something that either matched or overpowered the kiss they'd shared the night next to the lake, but every time, she shied away. More so if they were at risk of getting caught. And this was where his respect was hard to keep in check.

"Narcissa-", he pulled her arm gently as she tried to get around him to leave the room, but she was well on her way powering towards the door, hand already outstretched for the door knob. It was frustrating for him. Despite not wanting to push her over the edge of where she was comfortable, her continual denial of giving him affection wore him down. He wanted everyone to know she was his, he wanted to give her everything and yet she seemed to push him away. As she reached the door, almost opening it a little too forcefully, he sighed and clicked his fingers, disapparating from the room.

Potions theory. At least she'd let him sit next to her, giving him a cautious smile as he took the seat beside her. Laying out the relevant books in front of him, he tore a page out of his notepad as quietly as he could and began scribbling away. As the Professor continued with the lesson, his apparent note taking was simply a note to Narcissa. Propping up the nearest text book to hide the view of what he was doing, he folded the paper neatly into four and slid it in her direction, pushing it far enough so that it was hidden under the parchment she was writing on. The motion seemed to have caught the attention of the teacher who gave Lucius a frown, and Lucius lowered the text book, attempting to prove some sort of innocence. Waiting a few minutes for the spotlight to be taken away from them, Narcissa continued to take notes, only reaching for the small piece of paper when she finished one side of the parchment. Opening the note, Lucius' handwriting stained the paper, waiting for her to finish before dissolving gradually, giving her space to write her response.

'Do you still want to be with me?'. His question didn't surprise her. She'd strangely found it hard to relax into the relationship. Something was holding her back even though she wanted to throw herself into it just like she had done that night. Maybe her dislike of lack of control over things didn't help the situation.

'Of course', the answer was simple, but she couldn't really think of what else to write and so she pushed the paper back to him. Taking advantage of their Professor now taking a seat at his desk whilst students worked, he scrawled back.

'It doesn't really seem that way'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'This morning'

'I'm sorry'

Before he had chance to continue to the paper conversation, the teacher had risen again to help a student sat close to them and so the scribbling halted whilst they continued with their work. As he wrote the words, quill scratching against paper, his hand mindlessly wandered under the table, resting itself her on leg. Her hand slapped his away and he mouthed 'sorry' as he regained control of himself. She was careful. Too careful. Too careful to make sure no one noticed that they were 'together', if that's what they supposedly were. He had to continuously remind himself that any sign of public affection (or private as it seemed), was out of the question and it would be frowned upon by her. His heart sank a little at the thought. The needy student now sorted, he wrote back to her.

'No, I'm sorry, but I just can't help myself', he nudged it back to her but she didn't write back after reading. Perhaps because the sound of the slap had earned a steely glare from no other than Caspar who had chosen his seat well away from them. Scrawling down to the end of the parchment again, she dropped the quill, waiting for the imminent end of the lesson. As the distant bell rang, she made a beeline for the door, books in hand and leant back against the wall waiting for his appearance, only Caspar beat him to it. He walked past her, trying to be ignorant, only when he was a few steps away from her, he paused and turned back around to her, taking her hand and leading her a little away from the classroom door.

"Caspar I-", she tried to move away from him, his sullen eyes frightened her inside and she felt a need to get away from him and confusing at is was, she wanted Lucius, a safety net.

"Narcissa, no. I need to tell you now, I just can't leave without-", leave? What did he mean 'leave'? Her brow furrowed, trying to make sense of him. He breathed in, heavily and slow as he tried to formulate an easy explanation.

"I'm leaving. Here, Hogwarts. I've- I've been offered a position at the Ministry... And I can't stand to be here anymore... Not when I have to see you everyday... With him...", his words were sharp, cutting her a little deeper than they should've done. She bit her bottom lip, nibbling until the faint tang of blood stopped her. Before she could ask him why, he walked away, not looking at her again, not wanting the heartache to pang.

"What the hell did he want?", unaware that Lucius had appeared from the classroom, he startled her and she was knocked back into the reality of the corridor.

"He's leaving... Leaving Hogwarts...", she turned to him and looked up, his jaw was clenched and he was glaring in the direction of Caspar. How one girl could change the friendship they'd had. But then again, as long as he had her, he didn't particularly care.

"Good riddance", his careless approach sent Narcissa stomping off in the opposite direction and he thought it'd perhaps be best to leave her to it. He turned himself around and huffed off towards his next class. Walking somewhat aimlessly down the corridor, vaguely aware of the next class she was trying to reach, she turned it over in her mind. Offered a position at The Ministry? It wasn't unheard of and Caspar was bright. Very bright. The kind of intelligence they sought to recruit at an early age. And like he'd said himself, there was 'nothing here for him anymore', so why shouldn't he uptake the opportunity? As the matter cleared itself up, she continued on.

He retired that evening to the Common Room, and, noticing Narcissa was nowhere to be seen, headed up to her room, once again careful that no one was watching. Having said that, people were too involved in their own gossip to worry about where he was going and since the rumours of the two of them had sparked, less girls hollered for his attention. Reaching her door, he passed the routine of knocking and clicked oped the door, gently creaking it back on the hinges. Peering into the room, dark from dusk, he caught her sitting in the bay of the window, staring out into the open. She knew he was there. Of course she did. Her head had gone to turn in his direction, but catching a glimpse of him, she had turned her attention back to the scene outside. The setting of the sun, less colourful than usual, dimly lighting the water stretching for miles ahead, shadowing the mountains.

"Did you know he was leaving?", she spoke but didn't turn to him. He stepped over and sat in the chair at her desk, pushing a book out of the way so that he could rest an arm on the table, sighing deeply before he spoke.

"No.", his voice was firm. Utterly convincing and truthful. She turned to him, eyes almost dead of light. She stood up and stepped over to him, stopping just before she reached him and then carefully placed herself in his lap. Waiting a moment or two to see if she'd settle, she did a little and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her in position. He nuzzled his nose into her shoulder and as he did so, she rested her head against his. The moment, however, was short lived as he attempted to go in for a kiss and she stood again, moving over to her bed and sitting back down away from him. Disheartened yet again, he got up to leave.

"I don't know why you keep doing this Narcissa-", he mumbled but she heard, and he knew by the lowering of her head, once again avoiding his eye contact. She could've been on the brink of tears, however neither of them found out as she got up again from the brief sitting she'd taken on the end of her bed.

"I'm going for a bath... I'm sorry Lucius-", as she apologised yet again for her lack of affection towards him, she clicked on the light in the bathroom and shut the door on him. Leaning back against it as she did so, she breathed outwards, not realising she'd kept her last breath held in so long.

He stayed resting on her desk for a moment or two, considering whether or not he should leave, or perhaps he should stay. She'd told him earlier she still wanted to be with him. Surely that had to account for something? He got up slowly, stretching out his arms in front of him as he did so, taking a sturdy step towards the window and casting his eyes over the same view she regularly looked upon. As he pondered over the beauty of the lake, he heard the water running, a gentle thump or two from her-

No. He could not go there. He could think about her absolute imminent undressing merely a plank of wood away from him. He had to control his thoughts. He turned around, mentally ensuring that he didn't look towards the bathroom door, and made himself comfortable on her bed, resting his head back onto her pillows and closing his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. A few minutes went by before he opened them again and looked around the room. Only now when he took the chance to take everything in did he notice the fine details. Her dresser, decorated in pretty little things; a charm she'd cast around the mirror so soft twinkling lights danced, a trinket box placed perfectly at an angle to the right. As he became fixated on the objects laid out, he noticed one of the drawers slightly ajar. Curiosity getting the better of him, he rose from the bed and silently stepped over to the dresser. As his hand went to carefully slide open the drawer, he suddenly felt guilty. He was going beyond a boundary she hadn't yet allowed him to come across. She rarely hugged him yet here he was delving into her privacy. Actions taking hold before his mind had time to control them, he pulled open the drawer. The black sating and lace caught the soft glow of the surrounding candles and he realised he was somewhere he most definitely should not be; forbidden.

Complete and utter guilt taking over, he returned the drawer back to itms ajar position and wandered over to the bed again, sitting down on the edge so that he could continue to look out of the window. Just as he did so, the bathroom door clicked open.

"Lucius?!", her tone was taken aback as she hurriedly clicked the door back into place, "I thought you'd left?!", he continued to look straight ahead, but raised his voice a little so that she could still hear him beyond the door.

"No... Sorry- I er, thought I'd wait for you-", his excuse didn't sound particularly convincing even to himself, yet he heard her open the door once more. He still remained turned away from her, perhaps out of complete respect, perhaps because he didn't know if he could control himself if she happened to be wearing nothing if he turned.

"Oh.. Um.. Could you throw me your jumper?-", the request was rather bizarre and at first, he couldn't quite make sense of what she'd said, but a moment later and he was stretching upwards to pull off the Slytherin sweater, his built up muscles perhaps making a slight job of the simple movement. He threw the loose article behind him and heard her pad out of the bathroom. Folding his arms across his chest and closing his eyes to rest again, he expected to hear her begin to get ready, but instead he felt her weight crawl onto the bed. He turned around to see her, under the covers, eyes peeking out of the top at him.

"Narcissa, what ARE you doing?", a smile played at the edge of his lips, not too sure what to make of what she was doing.

"I don't want you to see me-", she nuzzled her head under the covers, curling up and pulling the sheets with her. He turned around more so that he was properly facing her should she resurface anytime soon.

"Narcissa... You're wearing my jumper- I'm sure I won't see a lot of you anyway-", he let out a gentle short laugh and she peered back out at him, only her eyes exposed.

"But I'm only in my underwear-", she flushed as she whispered to him, yet little did she know that in actual fact, he'd met with her underwear only minutes ago. Instead of answering her back, he paused. If he didn't push her now, she might never relax into him. He wanted her to be completely open with him, have no fears. He clicked his fingers which in turn, gradually drew the curtains and simmered down the candles in the room. A few shuffling sounds later, she felt him crawl in beside her.

"Lucius! What are you doing?!", she tried to move away from him in the bed, which was rather easy thanks to it's rather large diameter. Her voice was still a whisper however in a startled tone.

"Well... Now we're both in underwear... So you don't have to be so conscious...", he didn't know if it would work, whether she'd warm into it or whether she'd leave her room fleeing, but she seemed to stay and after a moment or two, she shuffled back towards him. They were timid movements, but he made no advance towards her, letting her be the decider on how close she wanted to get. He'd left his shirt on so that it wasn't too forward and gradually she made her way to him, until she was cuddled up to him. She linked her hands around his arm and nuzzled into him. They lay there, silent. It could've been almost blissful had Lucius not been fighting every teenage want in his body.

She placed a soft kiss on his arm through the shirt, the warmth of his skin radiating back through to her lips, tingling down her chest. She snuggled herself up in his jumper as he turned his body over to her, wrapping an arm around her and gently kissing her forehead. As he did so however, she reached her lips up to his. He expected her to break off prematurely but she didn't. She held it, deepening it as she became a little breathless against his lips. She tangled her hands into his hair, getting a little carried away as she slowly brought her leg up and hooked it over his side.

"Narcissa-", he was mumbling to her between the kisses, trying to get a word in edgeways until he had to push her away a little with his hand. "Narcissa please-", she looked at him, her eyes wide with slight embarrassment that she'd been the one pushing the advance. "I'll get too carried away with you if you're not careful-", his eyes were almost sorry, but he didn't want her to feel pressured, he wanted it at her pace. She pushed back the covers and stretched upwards in the way that he had done, pulling off the jumper and dropping off the side of the bed onto the floor. He swallowed. His breath caught. The candles lighting the room ever so slightly, caught against her skin. The glow outlining her gentle curves, each inch too perfect to him. He ran a hand over her thigh and even though she tensed a little at his touch, she went to kiss him again. He circled her skin with his thumb as she gently bit his bottom lip, hardening him against her, their hips almost touching. She rested her leg up and over his waist again and he pulled her closer as his hand pressed into the small of her back. Drawing his fingertips up her spine, his hand teased over her chest, along her collarbone and held her chin. It momentarily stopped the kiss and her eyes met his, giving him permission.

His hand went back to her thigh, before coming around gently to her stomach where he tickled along the soft definition of the muscles. He went down between her legs, softly rubbing her through the lace. She became more breathless against his lips, spurring him on to change the contact. Pushing the fabric aside, his finger slid against her, a definitive moan escaping her lips as her heart pounded and the adrenaline made her dizzy. He ground his arousal into her stomach as the kissing became fierce, each after more than they could have of each other.

"Please Lucius-", her voice was begging, desperate for something more from him.

"I don't want to hurt you-", his was apologetic against her ear as he brought the kissing to her neck, but she bucked her hips against his hand and he pushed a finger inside her. Her body shivered against his before her breathing slowed.

"Lucius, please stop-", her voice instantly made him withdraw and his earlier arousal had turned to concern for her, he brought his hands so that they were either side of her face, pulling her up to look at him. The start of tear glistened in her eyes.

"Cissa?...", he panicked, terrified he'd injured her, done something to upset her in a way that she might not come back to him. "Cissa, what-", she was slowly shaking her head, a tear escaping and streaming down her cheek.

"I'm sorry... I-I thought I wanted it... But it hurt-", the sobbing commenced as he wrapped both arms around her pulled her, close so that not even darkness could seep between them. He hushed her softly, rocking her slowly back and forth trying to calm her.

"Cissa- We don't have to do anything, I just thought you did want it-", her quiet crying against him stifled any attempt at replying to him. "Ssh, sweetheart you'll be okay-", she sniffled as she tried to stem the outburst and gently pushed back from  
Him so that she could see him.

"I feel so stupid-", she wiped away the tears with the back of her hand, hoping he wouldn't try to make her feel like an utter inferior.

"Oh Cissa-", he pulled her close again, not wanting to let her go until he'd made sure that she knew he didn't expect anything of her. "-Cissa, we don't have to go so far so quick, I can wait for anything as long as it's with you okay?", he waited until he felt her nod against him before continuing. "It'll take time for your body to get used to it... Just don't, think you have to do things to make me happy-", she nodded again, the last of the sniffles fading as he continued to simply hold her. "And, if it's any consolation, don't be self-conscious when you're in just your underwear-", he brought his lips close to her ear and as he whispered, the tickling brought a soft giggle out of her, "you're more beautiful than you know".

The Great Hall bustled, yet they sat beside each other in almost complete silence, except for a knowing smile now and again. Dumbledore, rising from his usual seat at the teacher's table, overlooking the school houses, raised his hands together in an attempt to quieten the students.

"IT IS WITH GREAT HONOUR-", he began with a shout in order to bring a control to the atmosphere and the hum of talking lowered as people, one by one brought their attention towards him. "That this year, Hogwarts has been chosen", his words reflected confusion on the faces of younger students, who quickly turned to each other in a bustle of excitement and apprehension as to what he might say next. "Chosen for the annual Triwizard Tournament", the buzz roared again, and Dumbledore, clapping his hands thrice, began his speech.

"This is not the first time and we most certainly hope it will not be the last, for we have many a capable student here, to take on the challenges it presents-", his right arm extended towards to other end of the Great Hall where the doors were proceeding to open. "But first, may I present, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang-", as he presented the contending schools, their students entered, each taking an aisle to walk down to the front of the Great Hall. People whispered in awe; the grace of the Beauxbatons and the sturdy, confidence of the Durmstrangs. Narcissa's parents had tried to send her to Beauxbatons, much to the dismay of herself. She hadn't particularly wanted to study abroad and had been very insistent that she would attend Hogwarts. Watching them, they almost floated through the air and as they passed, one girl; a chestnut brunette whose hair tumbled in soft curls down her back caught Lucius' eye. Narcissa caught onto this and he quickly broke the eye contact, lowering his gaze and not wanting to acknowledge Narcissa. She was distracted from him and the odd connection between him and another girl, as Albus continued. Waving his hands in a gracefully, solid movement in front of him, the renowned goblet formed before the onlookers, the flame flickering into glacial blue.

"Put in your name, only if you so dare, for there will be no returning if you are chosen-", he clicked his fingers once and the flame roared into a moment of amber before settling back down into blue. Narcissa turned around to Lucius who had fixated on the glass next to his plate. He twirled it around on the bottom edge with a single finger as he concentrated on it, his mind clearly elsewhere. She nudged him gently with her elbow and he came back to her for a minute before going back to the short lived habit.

"Lucius?-", she quizzed him quietly in a whisper and he snapped back to her, carrying on as though nothing bizarre had happened. He smiled at her, confident that he could easily shrug off whatever thoughts she may have premeditated about him and the brunette girl. As she pondered, once again letting her mind get too carried away with itself, he nudged her.

"Are you going to put your name in?", he joked but she pulled together her most serious face and bit back a little.

"So what if I do?", to her surprise he simply shrugged, but them she realised that others ha started to watch their exchange, probably hopeful that they might see something that would confirm them as a couple; a kiss, a squeeze. Anything. But nothing. When they realised that nothing imminent would occur to confirm their suspicions about the pair, he leant in close to her, his tone stern against her ear.

"You will absolutely do no such thing. You will NOT put yourself in that sort of danger...", the fierceness with which he spoke terrified her. Terrified her to the absolute pit of her stomach which roared against a belting passion; the way he was stopping her, but for her own protection and there, she knew that no matter what, she was safe with him.

The evening continued as normal, the air buzzing more than usual from the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament. Bets being put on who'd put their names in and who wouldn't. The younger students daring their friends to do it. Lucius kept quiet, vaguely acknowledging Narcissa with a small smile now and again; tinged with some sort of guilt as he read a newspaper which had been left by another student.

On the way back to the Common Room, Narcissa, who had something niggling in the back of her mind, spoke aloud, starting the conversation which was unusual, yet Lucius, in a World of his own, didn't realise this.

"Lucius?", he waited for her to continue the question, or rather didn't have chance since she started again just as quickly as she'd finished his name. "That girl... From Beauxbatons - do you know her?", her voice was a little concerned and she could feel him tense in the atmosphere as he quickened his walking pace and she had to quicken hers in step, trying to keep up with him. Despite this however, he laughed a short laugh and turned to her.

"Thank goodness... I thought you were going to ask about the tournament again-", he laughter stifled as he noticed her plain expression and his walking continued to speed up a little. He was obviously avoiding the initial question. As they walked past the entrance to a smaller corridor, she pulled him into it and he stumbled as she did so, not expecting such force from her.

"Tell me Lucius-", her face was serious. The question before had only been a casual, off-handed inquisition, but his ignorance had made it clear that there was more to it than she perhaps first thought.

"I can't-", he kicked himself as he answered, knowing he should've been more tactful in his answer, since her face changed, realising he was hiding something from her.

"If you can't tell me, I can't be with you-", she didn't really mean it. Maybe she did. She suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to know everything about him, realising that really, they knew nothing about each other at all. Strangers. She instantly regretted her choice of words as his eyes closed and his face sank. At the same time, the idea of being strangers scared her a little, especially with the thought of how close he'd let her get earlier wandering around her thoughts. Shaking it off, she nuzzled into his chest in the darkness of the corridor, surprising herself at the motion.

"I'm sorry...", her voice was muffled by his sweater and she breathed him in. He wrapped his arms around her, the warmth enclosing her.

"Let's go to bed?", his suggestion soothed her. She didn't feel like she had to fight away from him and then, 'strangers' wasn't an option to describe them. she did know him. at least a little. Or she at least knew that she didn't have to fear him. Nodding against him, he moved her back a little before taking her hand, peering out into the corridor and taking her to her room.

She lay next to him. Resting her head on his chest, his arm supporting her as they lay in the same predicament as they had been earlier, when one thing had lead to another more quickly than she'd realised she'd wanted. He'd turned the ceiling above her bed into a night sky; the stars twinkling gently in the darkness of her room. She twisted a strand of his hair between two fingers, the proximity of them together fluttering a gentle nervousness within her stomach.

"When's your birthday?", his voice was soft, calm. It calmed her too.

"February 21st. Yours?", he began to gently brush a hand through her hair, the silkiness light against his fingertips.

"November 29th", the stars above them moved as the sky outside did, showing various constellations. He sighed, contently. She snuggled into him further, the warmth welcome.

"How many girlfriends have you had before me?", the question was light-hearted, yet she wanted a serious answer and he laughed a single gentle laugh.

"Serious ones? None.", his answer was genuine. She could tell in the tone of her voice and so she perhaps thought she could get away with asking him further about the girl from earlier who had caught his eye.

"So who is the girl from-", he stopped playing with her hair as she asked him and when she tilted her head up to his face, his eyes were closed and his brow furrowed, angry almost that she'd asked yet again. Despite this, knowing she wouldn't give up until she knew, he sighed again and began, still keeping his eyes closed.

"I'll tell you 'Cissa, but you probably won't want to be with me after-", she didn't care, she had to know. If she was going to let herself fall any deeper for him, she had to know every little thing about him. "It happened last year, when the school was also chosen to host the tournament... She had a thing for me, I didn't think anything of it-", Narcissa wasn't sure of where this was going yet she felt strangely intrigued. Curious to know what his life had been like before she came crashing into it. "She... She somehow intoxicated me with a love potion.. God knows where she got it-", he felt her sit up, sitting back to watch him cross-legged. He opened his eyes and propped himself up, taking one of her hands. "Cissa, I'm so sorry... I didn't want it to happen... I didn't mean for it to happen...", she felt a little puzzled to exactly what had happened. His eyes fell to the bed sheets. "She took advantage I suppose-", Narcissa suddenly realised what he meant. He'd slept with her?! A sudden rage inside her lit, burned and die out. If she was being brutally honest with herself, despite the sinking in her heart, she'd been expecting it. Lucius was the most sought after boy in the entire school, and she, well, she certainly wasn't a Beauxbaton.

"Why did you pick me Lucius?", her voice was a little cold. Perhaps from his confession, maybe from her dislike towards herself.

"Because you're beautiful", he was so certain, the thought dizzied him. He took her in. Each and every part. She snorted gently, finding it bizarre that Lucius Malfoy of all people would be here, lying on her bed telling her this.

"You are 'Cissa. You're not like the other girls. There's something different about you. I don't know what it is, but it's there...", he pulled her hand so that she crawled towards him and lay herself back down on his chest. As they looked back up to the ceiling, a shooting star lit the room. He leant his head down so that his lips were next to her ear, his breath tickling and warm.

"If I could wish for anything 'Cissa, it'd be to have you forever", he gently kissed her neck below her ear, the tingling making her breathing unsteady. He trailed the kisses along her jawline, reaching her lips and pausing for a moment, before slowly embracing his lips with hers.


	10. Chapter Ten

The crinkling of the paper as he folded, unusually loud against the silence of the Great Hall, was perhaps a mere confirmation that he was in a state of absolute insanity. Reaching an arm up to the flame, name in hand, he dropped the paper into the blue. It roared gently for a moment before settling back to take the next name of those who dared. His heart thudded a little with the anxiety of what he'd just done, making him want to claw into the fire to retrieve the scrap. In the back of his mind however, he kept telling himself he had to do this. He had to show her, prove himself worthy.

He lay back on her bed, watching her potter around the room as he had done the past couple of mornings, now that she let him be in her company. The topic of what had happened a night or so ago was still off their talking itinerary. Lucius, who was always rather open with himself, found it difficult to understand how she kept so many things inside, hidden. He'd tried a couple of times since to approach the subject, only to have it completely dismissed by her as she turned the conversation to something more 'appropriate'. He watched her, peacefully, as she did the usual peering into the mirror to fix her makeup, reaching into the wardrobe to collect that day's uniform. It was only when she bent down a little to open the draw he'd 'accidentally' opened, that she spoke.

"Close your eyes-", her tone was firmer than expected, but as he had done the day before, he covered his eyes with his hands. As he did so, the shuffling of her moving around, changing into new underwear, distracted his concentration. Rather than trying his best not to look, he sneakily tried to peer through slightly parted fingers, until an instant pang of guilt hit him and he stopped himself.

"Okay-", as he opened his eyes back into the light from the dark of being behind his hands, he felt rather disappointed that she'd also managed to fully dress herself. She came over to the bed from her dressing table and perched herself on the opposite side to him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You should've just stayed the way you came out of the bathroom-", and by that, he was hinting towards the silk underwear she'd been wearing as she reemerged from a morning bath. As he smirked a little, she flushed a gentle colour, knowing almost where the conversation was going. She couldn't decide quick enough whether she could conjure the guts to discuss it with him, face to face, in broad daylight... Talking to LUCIUS MALFOY, about sex.

"Cissa-", his tone urged her to start the conversation rather than him trying to push her into it, giving her an easy way out if she so wanted, yet she surprised herself.

"Maybe tonight...", she turned away from him as she said it, confident enough to start talking about it, but still shy enough about the entire thing to not be able to look him in the eye. He leant over to link his fingers into hers, bringing her eyes back around to his. They were deep and she melted into them, and more than anything, they were honest and raw.

"Cissa, we honestly don't have to... I promise, I don't think any less of you-", she almost felt guilty. Here he was, letting her do everything in her own time, yet she knew she denied him almost anything, or rather the thing he wanted most; for everyone to know they were together, rather than basing it off school rumours. She simply smiled at him, squeezed his hand and stood to leave for lessons.

The day passed just as dull as any other typical school day would. An hour of Potions, an hour of Potions Theory, an hour free when in the library whilst Lucius had Arithmancy, then two hours of combined Charms and Charms Theory in the afternoon. It was only when Narcissa arrived back into the Common Room, that the day became more eventful, for all the wrong reasons. As she turned through the doorway, Lucius' name was on the tip of everyones tongue, floating around the room in a whisper. No one seemed to bring their attention to her however and so she presumed the gossip was about him solely. Hauling her books up the steps to her room, she banged through the door, throwing the reading material heavily down ok her desk as she did so. Lucius, as ever, was waiting for her, standing in the window.

"Lucius?-", his name was for him to turn around yet he didn't, remaining in a trance state for a few minutes before responding.

"Narcissa, I... I entered myself-", she wasn't entirely sure what he'd meant initially, yet when her mind started clicking to put two and two together, she feared the worst and momentarily denied it to herself. He turned around to her, stepping over and holding her with a hand on each shoulder. She immediately pushed him off, turning around and lifting both hands to her face. Through the start of tears, she raged at him.

"Why?! Why would you do this?!", he tried to comfort her, put a hand on her arm, yet she whipped around, eyes a little smeary. "WHY LUCIUS?!", he sighed quickly, trying to work out what to tell her, regretting he'd ever done what was done.

"To prove myself to you Narcissa!", he became argumentative, a little brassed off at her response; how could she possibly expect him to think about her feelings when she didn't seemingly think about his and his want for her to be 'officially his'. He hit back inside himself, instantly guilt ridden from thinking such a thing.

"Prove yourself?! To who?! Me?!", her rage was almost out of control and he feared it might arouse suspicion in the Common Room, and so without really thinking, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her, landing her lips right on his. She calmed instantaneously, the salt from her tears coming between their lips. She sniffled as the kiss broke off and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her in.

"I'm sorry... I just didn't know how else to show you that I really do just want you 'Cissa-", he whispered softly into her hair as he rested a cheek on top of her head. She continued to calm herself, beginning to feel at ease with him again, trying not to think too much about the possible imminent danger he would succumb to if chosen. She reached her lips up to beside his ear, kissing before whispering to him, nervously.

"Show me here...", she was barely audible. He leant back a little to look her directly in the eyes.

"Show you what?-", he spoke just as he was realising and so broke off before pausing and double checking. "Are you sure? Right now?", she nodded without hesitation and leant up to him, kissing him.

He tiptoed her back towards the bed, gently resting her down backwards, a toned arm taking her weight. He went to her neck, kissing into her collarbone, popping open the top button of her shirt, kissing deeper. He slid a hand up her skirt, meeting the lace with his fingertips and gently hooking a finger into them to pull them down, letting them pool onto the floor. He brought his face to hers, noses almost touching, when she began to panic, becoming somewhat breathless.

"Lucius... I don't know if I can-", she seemed almost on the brink of sobbing again, when he began to hush her soothingly.

"Cissa, we don't have to... But if you want to, just relax, try not to tense-", he waited for permission and as she nodded, he ran his hand solidly back up her thigh, between her legs. He pressed a fingertip against her and a gentle flutter of breathing escaped her lips. He deepened the pressure, alternated between movements before slowly sliding a finger into her. He watched her face intently, looking for a sign that she perhaps didn't want it to go any further but she stayed relaxed and brought her hand up and around the back of his neck to bring them closer. He moved gently in her, feeling her hips moving slightly with the motion. As he did so, he moved his thumb back to where he'd previously been and it proved too much for her. But rather than pushing him away, she moaned for more before breaking apart against him. The release was so new to her, that she'd made more noise than intended and Lucius had to shush her.

"Cissa! Shh..", he laughed gently against her ear and gently lay on top of her as her chest pulsated from erratic breathing, before calming to a more natural pace. He brought his face back up to hers and softly kissed her, smiling against her lips as he did so, blissfully unaware of the revelation happening outside her room.

Rather unfortunately for them, a particular girl from Narcissa's year had noticed Lucius entering her room earlier, before Narcissa had arrived and she had made a mental note to keep a close eye on whatever was going on. Having noticed that Lucius had not left the room and Narcissa had gone inside, she found the entire thing rather intriguing and so had made a specific effort to perhaps walk past the room to see if there was anything she could hear being said. Much to her delight, and slight embarrassment, she'd heard an awful lot more than she bargained for. Perhaps if Lucius had quietened Narcissa quicker, then Dolores Umbridge, the biggest school gossip, wouldn't at that moment, be on her way to inform Professor Dumbledore of the most shocking student activities to date.

Dolores trotted along, very much on a mission to out the pair to a more authoritative figure. Upon reaching his office, she neatly knocked twice against the embellished wood and he welcomed her in with a deepened 'yes?'. Looking rather pleased with herself, she took a seat in the chair at his desk, facing him over the large table.

"How can I help you Dolores?", his tone was a little weary, which was understandable given the fact that this girl regularly tried to gain recognition for spying on fellow students.

"I just thought I should make you aware, Professor, that particular, inappropriate things have been happening in student rooms-", as she coughed slightly at the word 'inappropriate', he peered upon over his glasses from the parchment he was writing on and raised an eyebrow.

"And how exactly has this come about, particularly to your knowledge, Miss Umbridge?", he shrugged a little, waiting for a response which would probably be that other students were gossiping about a rumour and so she thought she'd better step on it.

"Let's just say Professor, that I happened to be walking past a students' room this evening and what I heard most certainly wasn't a 'friendly' discussion-", Dumbledore seemed intrigued at her finding and Dolores smirked, most pleased with herself.

"And, if I dare ask, who are the people involved?", he had both eyebrows now raised the quill which had been furiously active before, was now resting in the closest ink pot. Dolores' knowing smile grew bigger, as though the names were trying to burst out before she had time to collect herself.

"Mr. Malfoy... And Narcissa Black-", before she had time to continue, the door clicked and Professor McGonagall appeared, walking over to the grand desk. She knowingly nodded at Dolores, who eagerly tried to continue her discovery in the presence of another teacher, but was quickly dismissed by Dumbledore who cut in before her.

"Miss Umbridge, thank you for letting me know... Now if you'll be on your way-", he raised a hand towards the door and she rose from her seat whilst still trying to get more of the story out.

"But Sir-", he clicked his fingers for the door to open as she tried to keep her place in the office.

"I will deal with this-", and so, at his answer, she left the room, Professor McGonagall placing down paperwork she'd brought in, onto the desk in front of him.

"Whatever did she want this time?", she seemed a little flustered and almost irritated that Dolores Umbridge had made, yet another trip to Albus to disturb his work with another silly story.

"It seems, Minerva, that we have a particular, shall we say 'teenage' issue between two students-", the raising of his eyebrow again and small, knowing smile informed her instantly of what he'd meant.

"And the students in question, Albus?-", she leant a hand on his desk, the other on her hip, demanding a quicker answer than he was letting out.

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Black-", the last name received an eye-roll from McGonagall.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me... Bellatrix Black has never been one to remain under control-", he cut her off by raising a hand to her and shaking his head, smiling.

"Not the older Miss Black, Professor, but Narcissa Black-", as he corrected her assumption, her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with surprise and shock.

"Do you think he's taking advantage of her Albus? He seems quite the type...", her eyes filled with a genuine concern, Dumbledore again raising not only one, but two hands to her.

"It's not for me to say, but perhaps keeping a closer eye on them wouldn't go amiss-", he left it at that and continued to inspect the papers that Professor McGonagall had brought into him, all whilst Dolores Umbridge was on the lookout for her next person to tell.


	11. Chapter Eleven

She hurried along, almost skipping at the delight of her discovery. Giggling to herself, she arrived at the Common Room door and with a whisper of the password, she stepped inside. For her inner gossip, the room was bustling and this meant that she could most certainly find a pair of ears to whom she could pass on her new found eye widener. Taking a seat in a chair at the other side of the fireplace, she picked up the Daily Prophet which someone had left lying on the low table and began reading. As she did so, she made sure that her knowing smile was kept in full view of the entire Slytherin house. She wasn't particularly one to start the gossip, but if someone asked, she'd be more than happy to share every detail of everything she knew. On par with the thought, a tall boy from the year below noted her expression and pressed further.

"What's gotten you all het up Dolores?", his tone was mocking her almost more than he was asking - after all, she was known to try and make a mine out of a molehill and generally speaking, things she had to say about students turned out to be false or embellished.

Placing the paper, neatly folded, back onto the table, she smoothed her school skirt out and stood up to him, "The question isn't what's gotten me all het up, Hugo, but perhaps more who Lucius Malfoy has gotten het up-", the smirk teetered on the edge, lurking into a full blown smile which drew not only Hugo in, but a few more of the surrounding students. Without a cue from anyone else, she placed a slightly cupped hand to one side of her mouth in a false attempt to prevent anyone else knowing the name that was about to escape her lips in a loud whisper, "-Narcissa Black". She was positively successful in slyly ensuring everyone heard. Or if not heard, they easily made out the name from the emphasis her mouth put into each syllable and sound, lip reading from across the room.

Shocked and nervous giggles were stifled by gasps. Hugo standing in front of her, had taken a hand to cover his gaping mouth until he could manage a sentence beyond the surprise.

"Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy?!-", his eyebrows raised and Umbridge gave him her best slow, knowing nod, crossing her arms across her chest as she did so. "-What else do you know Dolores?", he held out his hand towards the large chair, signalling for her to sit down to tell the tale and he took a seat next to her. Others twisted around if they were already seated, and if not, they came over to listen in.

"Well, it so happened that I noticed both of them going into her room...", she made a lightened eye contact with a few of those listening, the vile smile still plastered over her face. "-And then as I was walking past on my way to the Great Hall...", she paused slightly, letting them hang on to her every word, waiting for the final confirmation they were all waiting for. "...And well, let's just say that it most certainly wasn't talking I could hear-", her smirk deepened as she leant back further into the chair, desperately happy with herself. She folded her arms again as a voice popped up from behind her.

"Merlin! Do you think they actually... DID IT?!", whoever the voice came from promptly fell into a short fit of giggles, as Hugo turned to a boy with whom he regularly socialised.

"Narcissa Black?! Score!", they were simultaneous in their cheering, clapping hands in a high five, laughing between them. "Lucius... Lucky blighter-", Hugo nodded at his friends' remark, getting only a scowl from Dolores, mortified that they would even so much as hint towards such an act. Hugo turned to her, shrugging a little, still grinning.

"Anyway-", Dolores sat up again, about to get her story back on track when the door clicked, everyone turning around at the entrant. Lucius. His brow furrowed as he came into the large sitting area, disturbed that his Slytherin house mates were crowded around, some giving him knowing looks, others disgusted looks.

"Sorry, is there something I should be aware of?", he stared a few of them out, demanding the answer. Dolores giggled and he peered around a student to her. "Perhaps you could, enlighten me, Dolores?", his smile faked and his eyebrows raised.

"I'm sure you don't need to be told about your own activities with Miss Black, Lucius?", his smile faded as the situation became nauseatingly uncomfortable and he was thankful that Narcissa had waited in the library for him to return, rather than coming back to fetch her books herself. Dolores had stood up and was standing before him, "I must say Mr. Malfoy, I certainly hope you are using relevant precautions... We wouldn't want any, accidents to happen... I'm not sure Narcissa's Father would approve of her returning home pregnant-", he whipped his wand to her, having to hold back the incantations which threatened to spill. After a minute or two and more gasps from around the room, he lowered the wand.

"Not that it is any of anyone's business-", he raised his voice so that even those at the far end could hear him and stared out a few more, "-but me and Narcissa Black are together, but what you believe to have happened, most certainly did not-", Dolores, risking being put at the end of his wand again, dared to speak.

"Well, I'm sure Dumbledore will have more to say-", she pushed past him to return herself to her dorm and as Lucius' face became sterner, students began filtering out again going about their own school work, not wanting to have him glare at them again.

His paced quickened towards the library, books under one arm as it turned into a light jog as he neared her. As he reached her table, he dropped the books down and immediately pushed them out of the way, frantic as he leaned on the table towards her.

"Luci-", his face panicked her and she trailed off his name, fully aware that something had evolved in the time she'd waited for him to return.

"Cissa- we have to go to Dumbledore, right now-", he grabbed one of her wrists, a little more roughly than intended, sparking further fear within her.

"Lucius!", she stumbled as he pulled her up from her seat, yanking her from the table, attracting a small group of attention from nearby pupils. Their school work and books abandoned, he was pulling her faster in the direction of the Headmasters office, ignoring her plea to know what was happening. Reaching the door, he turned her around so that her back was nearly touching the wall and he leant a hand next to her head, propping himself up.

"I'm sorry Cissa-", he squeezed his eyes with the other hand before looking at her, "-bloody Umbridge heard us didn't she?! The entire Common Room knows and she went tale-telling to Dumbledore too...", he watched her face panic, colour draining, but too soon, they were called in.

"Professor-", Lucius immediately tinged his voice with concern and pleading, pushing Narcissa behind him so that she didn't have to deal with the situation. "-Professor please, it's not what Miss Umbridge thought it was...", Dumbledore raised both hands for Lucius to calm himself and cease talking, before taking a seat at his desk and signalling for them both to sit the other side.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Umbridge has been to me, seemingly in the knowledge that she thinks I can stop you or, embarrass you-", From the tone in his voice and his raised eyebrows and slight smile, Lucius could tell Dumbledore was used to the persona that Dolores embodied. Tit-tattler, know-it-all. "-however, what Miss Umbridge does not understand, is that I cannot control what goes on between students during the privacy of their own time-", Dumbledore gradually stood from his seat, turning around to the window at the back of the room, taking a few steps over and looking out.

"If I do not know about it, how can I stop it?-", he was letting them off, pretending nothing had happened and Lucius took full advantage of the situation, pulled Narcissa up and made for the door, turning back around to Dumbledore as they left his office.

"Thank you, Professor-", he watched Dumbledore nod once and as Lucius began to turn out into the corridor he noticed Dumbledore's hand raise, stopping him as he listened for the old man to speak.

"I do advise caution however Mr Malfoy... Unfortunately, the magical skill I posses would not be able to hide any... Shall we say, mistakes?", he turned his head around to Lucius who had flushed slightly. Nodding, he quickly stepped out to Narcissa, and shut the bold door behind him.

They managed to escape any wrath that may have been lurking within the Common Room, ready to pounce and had made it back to her room. The books had also made it back thanks to a simple charm she'd put over them, which returned them to their rightful owner should they be left unattended for an hour or so. A useful spell she'd been quick to learn in her first year.

She sat on the bed, perched on the edge, shoulders slumping. He sighed, rubbing his temples with one hand, squeezing his eyes shut. "Cissa, I-", she cut him off before he could explain.

"You had to tell everyone didn't you?", she got up and walked around to him where he had sat down at her dressing table. "-You told them we were together?", the elongated silence confirmed her thoughts and she sighed.

"Narcissa I had to! Did you want me to play along with her stupid, insolent story and let them think you were some kind of school whore?!", she took the word too seriously, too much to her heart. She fell onto the floor under weary legs. "Oh Cissa-", he knelt onto the floor beside her, pulling her into his lap to comfort the beginning of yet more tears, "-we need to do something about this crying business...", she looked up to him through wet lashes, frowning at his comment. "You do a lot of it, silly-", he nuzzled into the top of her head and kissed her. She settled after a while, slouching down against him and only when he went to nudge her back up, did she realise she had succumbed to a deep slumber. Slowly lifting her head up so as not to wake her, he let her body rest against the floor, whilst he contemplated exactly what to do. Put her in bed obviously, but did he breach every trust she'd put in him by undressing her? Strangely enough, Lucius had never been in such a predicament, given the amount of girls who had sought him out and he was momentarily caught off guard. He proceeded with the most definite thing he could think of doing and pulled back the covers on her bed before leaning back down to her, scooping her gradually up and placing her a little too roughly into the sheets. She stirred at the movement, waking slightly so that he could talk to her.

"Cissa, you fell asleep... You need to change-", he felt a little awkward at the thought of having to do it for her, but she stumbled around and fumbled as she tried to get out of her uniform, still half asleep. As she managed to shuffle from the clothes, she kicked them sleepily off the edge of the bed, before flopping back in, only in her underwear, and pulled the covers over her. She hadn't noticed Lucius folding her clothes as she drifted into a light sleep, yet she woke once again as the lock on her door clicked.

"Lucius?-", her voice slurred against his name from the hazy sleep and he turned around to her in the dim candlelight.

"Sleep 'Cissa-", his soft order only woke her up a little more and she stretched out and arm to him across the large bed.

"Please stay-", her voice was a little needier than intended, but he came back into the room and shut the door behind him. Her eyes fell back shut as the rustling of him undressing made her roll over so he had room to climb in. He wrapped a warmth around her, bringing his legs up under hers and nuzzled into her neck. The doziness protruded in her head, blurring the sensations as though she could be drunk. Drunk off the moment of being with him. He settled down behind her and closed his eyes too, flashbacks of the day swimming before him. He began to drift off too when she whispered to him through the almost darkness of her room, save for the candle that was burning dimly in the far corner.

"Do you think I'm a whore Lucius?", the question was outright and oddly confident for her. So much so, that his eyelids flickered open and he pulled her in tighter.

"Why would you think that?... I didn't mean it that way before, but I just know she'd make it seem that way", his emphasis on the 'she'd' was an uncanny indication towards Umbridge. He nuzzled a few gentle kisses into her neck, pulling the odd strand of hair out of the way. "You're beautiful Narcissa-", the tingle of his words against her skin were hot and her head curled back into his shoulder, her chest pushing gently outwards, accidentally into his hand. The touch brought her head around to his where their lips connected in a slow heated kiss. His hand gently tightened and slipped under the black lace as the kiss deepened, the contact of his skin against her bareness proving too much for her to control herself. She twisted onto her back more and he positioned himself on top of her, both of them still hazy from the sleep that had taken them.

He pressed their bodies closer and she skipped a breath, as she timidly wrapped her legs around his waist and her hands fumbled at the muscle definition his chest displayed. He could feel the tremble in her hands as they crept lower and he resumed the passion in the kiss to give her the confidence to continue. Reaching where she'd been headed for, under the silk that was between them, she felt him in her hand and they both breathed heavily against each other's lips, the air hot and heavy.

"Make love to me Lucius-", her voice was quiet against his ear and almost not certain enough that it brought his eyes to her.

"I can't Cissa-", he rested his forehead against hers and she squeezed him gently again in an attempt to get him to change his answer.

"Why not?", she whispered again, so that her breath tickled against his skin as she softly bit at the skin of his collarbone.

"I don't want to hurt you... Besides-", he reached down to move her hand away from him, fearing he might not be able to control himself against her, "it wouldn't be protected.. I-I can't put you at that risk-", she hushed with a soft finger against his lips and he responded with a kiss against it.

"Lucius- please?...", her eyes were hopeful and pleading, full of absolute lust for him. She pushed her hips gently into his when she didn't get an immediate response.

"Are you sure? You'll have to take something tomorrow if we do-", he looked into her eyes, serious as his were, it drew her in more and rather than telling him, her lips went back to his, full of new want for him. He responded not only with his own mouth, but with a hand all over her body, resting his weight into the other arm. He reached under her to unclasp the material which kept him from where he wanted to be, and as he pushed the underwear aside. He kissed gently against her breastbone and her back arched a little, a calmed sigh escaping her lips. He kissed down her stomach and it fluttered at his touch. He paused for a moment, looking up to her, her chest rising and falling with contentment. He continued kissing and he soon reached the lacy hem. Tucking a finger into each side, he pulled the last piece of clothing down her legs. He stroked back up with his hands and she wrapped them around him again, loosely this time. He rested a forearm either side of her so that he was suspended over her, his heart pounding. She brushed her hands softly over his upper arms, the muscles twinging slightly under her trembling hands as a sudden nervousness had set in, now that they were almost completely exposed to each other.

"Are you okay?...", he whispered as he nuzzled her jawline with his nose and placed a small kiss along the bone before coming to look at her again. She nodded and slowly ran a fingertip down the centre of his chest and back up. She ran it along his lips and reached hers up to his. He lowered himself so that their bodies were pressed together and the warmth radiated between them. He kissed her gently once or twice as he freed himself from the constriction of his underwear and then he pushed a hand behind her to support her lower back and brought himself closer to her as he lowered the kiss to her shoulder. Bringing it back to her neck and then up, he rested his lips against her ear.

"Are you sure?..", he felt her nod against him as she wrapped one hand around the back of his neck and kept the other rested on his forearm. Bringing his hips almost level to hers, he pressed his hand into her back a little harder to bring her up slightly and pushed into her. He instantly felt her tighten everywhere and a small whimper escaped her lips as the sudden fullness of him took away her breath, along with the pain that shot up inside her.

"Shh, Cissa, just relax...", he moved his hand back to her side so that he could move back a little to see her. Her face was gently pained. "I won't do anything until you're ready...", she swallowed and gradually began to relax. Feeling this, he pushed himself further and she went to grab his arm as her eyes close and she bit her lip to keep from making anymore noise. He kept himself steady and continued the kiss to relax her further, nibbling her lower lip, licking at her tongue with his. After a few minutes, he felt her grind gently and so he began to move within her. It was almost explosive as though he couldn't have enough of her at once, yet he kept himself shallow so that she could adjust to him. They found a rhythm and their breathing heavied, Narcissa grasping at his chest muscles.

"Lucius...", she moaned against his lips as he came in to kiss her again. She wanted him, wanted to feel him, but the burning sensation began to overtake any pleasure and he felt her tense up moved a hand down, gently moving his fingertips in circles against her until she calmed again.

"Lucius.. Please...", she wanted it to stop for fear of losing complete control but she couldn't bear to have it end. He moved quicker and it was instantly overwhelming. Her back lifted up and arched as he pulsated inside her, moaning against her ear as she whimpered gently at having the sudden fastness and the pain it had brought. He slumped against her, kissing her here and there; wherever he had the energy to reach. After a minute or so he moved himself off her to the side, pulling her close and gently kissing her forehead. She rested her head against his outstretched arm, eyes closed, placing a hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat slowing. He turned to her, a little concerned and pulled up her chin to kiss her, moving a hand over a breast and down to her waist.

"Are you okay?-", he kissed her forehead as she nodded.

"I love you", his voice meant it. In every way, shape and form. She curled up next to him and tested her head onto his chest. Every fell into place. Her entire universe that now revolved around him, settled into one and she just knew.

"I love you too...".


	12. Chapter Twelve

The fuzzy light streamed through the gap in the curtains, settling onto any dust particle which happened to be dancing in the way. The dawn stirred him and he squinted as he woke to the unfamiliar surroundings. The unknowing startled him a little inside until he felt a warmth move next to him. Coming back to the knowledge of who he was with, his heart paced back to a more regular rhythm and he snuggled back up to her. As he did so, she groaned groggily beneath her sleep which was now breaking and he kissed her shoulder.

"How are you feeling?-", he nuzzled as she took a while to register the question and answer, but hazily and slowly, she managed.

"Sore-", her whimpered a little and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his chest, holding himself around her protectively.

"It'll get better, you know-", his voice tried to comfort her but was also trying to hide something else. Perhaps a guilt that he felt he'd made her, despite her asking for it. She turned around so that they were lying facing each other and placed a hand gently on the side of his face.

"Lucius, I wanted this, okay?... I'll be alright-", she kissed his lips gently and pushed her head into his neck. He fiddled with a strand of her hair behind her back, occasionally brushing his fingertips up and down her spine. She gently sighed and for some reason, he knew she was about to embark on a short probing spree; perhaps it was the way her body seemed to relax before doing so, as though she had to to stop incase any panic stopping her from talking, worried for what his answer might be.

"Was... I mean, the girl - from beauxbatons - w-was she your first?", she was nervous against her own words, her hand trembling as she created a habit out of running her finger around in circles on his chest. As he sighed, she looked up and his eyes were closed, face solemn.

"Yes-", he didn't seem particularly happy disclosing yet more information about his unfortunate encounter with that girl and the twiddling of her hair stopped.

"Do... Do you regret it?", she nuzzled her face back into him, kissing the defined pectorals as they occasionally flickered at the touch.

"I-I didn't at first...", her heart panged but she waited for him to continue as he seemed to hold onto the sentence.

"-Even though I was, well, I suppose I was used... I thought it was an easy way out of it... I hadn't met anyone I had particularly thought about going that far with-", his pause was to allow him to look down to her and pull up her face by a gentle tug on her chin. "But then I met you-", she smiled, but then went back to kissing his chest, still waiting for him to continue.

"-I regret it now, Cissa. Please know that...", his voice pleaded her to forgive him, and even though her heart felt again, disappointed that he'd been with someone before her, what was done is done and she whispered into his hot skin.

"I know... I know-", she rested her forehead against the muscles, her own muscles weary, her legs stiff from the promiscuity they'd been put into last night. "- was it any good?", she tried to lighten the tone as she giggled gently at the question, delving into his very limited, previous sex life. She felt him move and looked up again to see him shaking his head.

"I barely remember it Narcissa... I just know that whatever potion she'd used was something strong... And I did go to her willingly-", he needed her to know that, despite being the one who'd been tampered with, in the moment of the vile lust, he'd been more than willing to get involved. Feeling her sink a little, he wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her close again. As he did so, however, the touch hardened him against her and she flinched back a little.

"Do you see what you do to me?-", he laughed gently, placing a soft kiss on her cheek and rolled onto his back, separating them.

As it usually did, the day passed, full of more whispering and stares than usual, but still full of the same dreary talking from teachers and the hand numbing notes they were required to take in each lesson. Narcissa, still sore from their spontaneity, found it frustrating that no sitting position was particularly comfortable and she found herself regretting not what they'd done, but that it had brought with it what it had done. Seeing her face somewhat distressed, Lucius comforted her by rubbing her leg under the desk, his eyes apologetic and she smiled gently. Although, perhaps some of her distress was that, as she had been getting ready that morning, it had occurred to her that in merely a few days, the Triwizard Champions would be sought after, chosen from the chalice. She'd hoped and wished to herself that it wouldn't be him, but she knew full well that she couldn't control any magic so strong.

That evening, amongst the bustle of the corridor, they made it back to the Common Room ignoring any looks they received as he pulled her past anyone, particularly a smirking Bellatrix who had been entertaining first years with pranking spells in the far corner. Catching Narcissa's eye, she let out a sharp, quick, hackling laugh. As they came to her room, he let her go in alone as he lingered outside.

"I'll come back and get you when you're ready-", he leant down to peck her cheek and left for his own room, somewhere, she thought as he left, he'd never mentioned. Letting the frown on her forehead ease, she closed the door. In her room, the sunlight from outside was settling into sunset, lighting the bed they'd both woken up in this morning. The sheets still ruffled, the pillows still scattered. She gently bit her bottom lip, thinking back to what had happened the night before. She felt a strange sense of calm, yet a guilt flickered behind the happiness. What if she was just a fling for him. What if she'd just given him everything, blinded by young love that had barely blossomed and he hadn't planned on being with her for longer than perhaps a month? Her sinking heart forced her mind to push the thought away as she undressed as she walked over to the bathroom, flicking the light on and deciding to not bother locking the door since she was alone. The steam cast out into her room, fogging the windows, dancing between the warm sunlight. As she lay in the hot water, the triwizard tournament came back to her and she hoped that more than just a few people had entered, to lower his chances of being chosen. He just couldn't be. Not now.

The day that had lurked in her dreams beyond closed eyes had arrived and as they walked to the Great Hall together, he squeezed her hand, looking straight ahead. Their fellow students bustled with excitement at who may be chosen. Lucius and Narcissa? They sat, as they had done before, in complete silence. As Albus collected the attention of students with the iconic clap of his hands, the hall began to silence along with the couple and Dumbledore stepped down towards the deciding chalice. The Great Hall darkened, a blue, luminescent glow emulating from the Goblet. Dumbledore coughed, before once again, beginning one of his speeches.

"And so it comes, that tonight, our Triwizard Champions shall be decided, chosen, and will embark on an expedition which will not only test their magical skill... But their mental nerve-", as he spoke, the Goblet fizzled, it's flames streaming in banners, selecting the first victim. After all, considering the tasks they'd be competing in, bait was all they were. As her stomach twisted into sickening knots, the Goblet burned out the first name and Dumbledore caught the shred, flickering it about until the glowing edges faded.

"The Champion, for Durmstrang is!-", he looked around the room to pinpoint the boy, "Andon Borislav!", on announcement of his name, Andon stood proud, cheered on by his own fellow classmates. As the cheering subsided, the Goblet threw out the next name.

"The Champion, for Beaux Batons-", he once again sought out the student, "Clara Laurent!", to Narcissa's dismay, the girl which had passed Lucius that look previously, stood up for the rest of the girls to cheer her on. Narcissa's went to Lucius who had hung his head, knowing Narcissa would recognise her again.

The final flame burst upwards, spiralling around until the final piece of parchment glowed through the air and flitted down into Dumbledore's outstretched hand.

"The Hogwarts Champion is-!", Albus' hand pointed past Narcissa to someone behind her. "Lucius Malfoy!", her heart drummed, the entire scene slowed and her hearing fuzzed over. She turned around to him as the whole Slytherin table shot up out of their seats, those closest to him leaning over their plates to shake his hand, congratulate him. She couldn't do anything except sit there, staring at him, eyes burning from lack of blinking.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

"You can't do this Lucius! Why were you so- so STUPID! Why did you put your name in?!", the fury flailed her arms, made her storm down the corridor, her voice echoing in the grateful emptiness, no one watching her outburst.

"Ciss-", as he began to talk, she flew around, her palm slapping him against the cheek, taking her aback.

"Lucius-", tears instantly sprang into her eyes, despite him being the one that had been hurt, and she instantly went to him, cupping the targeted cheek with her hand. "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean it-", her voice had softened, trying to comfort him, but he took both of her wrists and held her in front of him.

"Cissa, I'm the one who's sorry... I-I didn't think I'd get chosen, okay?", regret flooded into his eyes, his face stern in the knowledge that he could very well die at the hands of his own idiocy. It was then that he realised he had fallen for her harder than initially thought as though he was hurtling towards her beyond the point of no return. He slapped himself again in his mind for doing what he'd done, hitting himself for putting at risk, the only real thing he'd truly known.

"Maybe I can try and get out of if-", his words fell against the imminent and she spoke out loud what they were both thinking.

"You can't. You know you can't-", she sniffed back the tears and freed her wrists from his grip, seemingly stronger. Maybe it was her way of toughening up, starting early in preparation for something that possibly, wasn't going to end well for him. Her expression blanked him as she turned and continued down the corridor, her pace quickening as she heard his steps coming up behind her, the clicking of his heels closer than she wanted. As she tried to walk faster, she felt him reach out to her with his hand and as it made contact with her upper arm, she felt her body being sucked backwards, colliding with his as the air around them swirled and battered, holding them in the eye of the disapparating tornado. As it spat them out, she fell with a dulled thud, Lucius almost crushing her and then helping her up. As her mind settled from the dizzying motion it had been in, she steadied herself against him and tried to find something familiar to confirm where she was. Nothing. The room was darkened, the walls papered in a near-black damask, the window framed by black silk curtains paired with the black silk that covered the bed; presumably his bed?

"Is this your...", she was wondering around, her finger dragging gently along furniture, her eyes gazing up to a chandelier which hung perfectly centered over the bed.

"My room?... Yes.", he quickly smiled before it faded as he watched her curiosity investigate his personal space. Her finger traced the intricate carving on the large draw cabinet which sat opposite the foot of his bed, the silver handles reflecting a small amount of light from the window. She turned around to him with a hand on each handle, her eyes asking permission.

"By all means-", he felt it only right that he grant her that permission. Especially since he'd come across a private draw of hers and she still didn't know about it. Quickly racing through his mind, he double checked the contents and knowing that she wouldn't find anything incriminating, he relaxed slightly. She slowly opened the draw, cautious that she may see something she didn't want to; a boy's bedroom was something she'd never come across, something forbidden by her Mother. She thought back to the memory of how she'd been told that if a man was in her room, it'd be their room and they'd be married. Married. She breathed deeply outwards. She'd already broken all the 'pre-marriage no-no's'. She was pleasantly surprised. Nothing bizarre or out of the ordinary - just his silk underwear folded into equal sizes and placed next to and top of each other. The same went for all the drawers; they were just his clothes.

She walked around more, slowly, taking it all in as though she might never see it again. It was bigger than her room, vastly so. The bed was low and seemed to stretch to almost the size of two of her if she was to measure from head to tiptoe. She walked over to the wardrobe, inquisitive again but forgetting to ask him first and he quickly slipped in front of her, closing to the doors she'd barely opened an inch.

"Not in there-", he frowned gently and she quizzed him with her eyes, but she chose not to push it any further, instead pulling him to the bed. They climbed on, not having to exert their efforts due to it's low rising position, but she lay down and stretched out next to him.

"So... How many girls have you brought here?", she smiled as he caught onto the light-heartedness and smiled too.

"Only you-", her smile faded, surprised that she was the first to grace this room. She stared him out for a while, losing herself in the depths of his eyes and wondering how many secrets he kept hidden behind them.

"Why me Lucius?", she'd asked it before, but this time was different. He was letting her into a place he'd let no one before. He sighed heavily, perhaps a little too heavily and she thought he wouldn't answer her, but instead, he embarked on an explanation.

"Because... It's really hard to explain Narcissa-", he turned onto his back to stare at the chandelier over head, the odd glass droplet catching a beam of light. He rested his arms across his chest. "Before you, any girl was just... Well, a girl. You're different, as I've said before... I want to give you everything, whereas before I was selfish...", he turned to her as she listened intently, her head was held up by an arm leant on the bed. "That's why I brought you here-", she frowned at him, confused by what he'd said. "-I never bring anyone here. Not unless I trust them. You're the only one who's been past the door aside me-", her eyes flickered to the door and then back to him, where she kept the gaze for a moment, before she was interrupted by a gentle rattle of the wardrobe door.

"What's in there?-", she was inquisitive and as she asked him, she began to raise from the bed to go and observe further. Or at least she would've done if he hadn't jumped to her and pulled her back.

"Nothing, just a draft... Damn castle is so old-", his comment was covering something and she knew from how he'd spoken. Still, she didn't want to push him on it, for fear of not being let back into his most private place. She came back to him and sat on the end of the bed, sighing slowly.

"What are you going to do Lucius... About the tournament?-", he shrugged at her and then delved into his own thoughts.

"Compete... Obviously-", at his blasé wording, she immediately jumped up again, outraged that he still hadn't decided against it. "I have to 'Cissa! You know I do!-", he tried to pull her back but she didn't come to him.

"What if you get yourself killed?-", she couldn't look at him as she said it and so she turned herself to look at the door, taking a special interest in the carving pattern to take her mind off the idea.

"Then I suppose I'll get killed... Just don't think about it-", she spun around to him, her face raged with the anger at his naivety.

"Don't think about it?! How can I NOT THINK ABOUT IT LUCIUS?!", he stood up, stepped over to her and pushed her forcefully back to the door, slamming her against it and pinning her body with his own as he thrashed his lips into hers. She tried to escape but then went with it until he broke away, slightly breathless, a hand either side of her face.

"Just don't, okay? Think about our lives beyond it... Because I will not leave you-", and with that, his eyes firmly told her not to question it again.

She sat, on the low chair at her dressing table, the black chiffon skirt of her dress draping down onto the floor around her ankles, the toes of her suede heels poking out the bottom. She stared into her own mind through her eyes reflected in the mirror. The soft glow from the nearest candle tainting her bare shoulders in a golden light. His familiar rasp on the door alerted her of his presence and the lock clicked as he popped his head around to see her. He looked at her in the mirror and as he shut the door to, she stood and turned to him. He was captivated by her, a tendril of hair falling in front of her face from the loosely messy updo, her lips stained in deep red.

"And this is why I want you forever-", it was barely a whisper, not even quite a breath and she frowned quickly.

"Sorry?-", she'd only just made out what he'd said and wanted to clarify it but he shook his head gently.

"Nothing.. I, er, I have something for you-", he presented a small box from his suit pocket and placed the shiny black wood in her hand. She started a small smile and went to open it. Fumbling around at the complicated design, she quickly understood it's working and clicked it once to the right and slid off the lid. A tiny circular diamond glinted out at her, the chain almost invisible it was so fine. Her hand went to her chest where the jewellery would eventually lay and gasped softly.

"Lucius- I, I can't accept this-", she tried to push the box back to him but he simply took the necklace out, turned her around and fastened the clasp behind her neck, kissing her shoulder gently. She admired the diamond in the mirror, the light it gave off from the glow around them, as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.

"Why-", she went to ask him but he predicted her forever growing curiosity and fulfilled her question.

"Because I wanted to. Because you're worth every penny of it-", she turned around to him, knowing full well that by the way he'd said it, it wasn't a cheap item to be in possession of. She frowned a little again and he rubbed out the soft line with his thumb.

"You need to stop frowning so much... It doesn't matter about the cost Narcissa, I wanted to give you something personal. From me to you-", he gently kissed her cheek and she pulled away to look at him again.

"Personal?-", he smiled at her never ending questioning.

"I designed it for you-", he pulled her in to hold her and they stood there in the room, still and quiet, until his sigh suggested they should continue to the Great Hall. The Yule Ball awaiting them.

As the night wore on, so did her energy levels. Dancing the night away proved to be more tiring than expected and beyond the blaring loudness of the music that continued, she stumbled around to find Lucius. Her mind, blurred by one too many butter beers and a shot or two of fire whiskey, had led to her not keeping track of time and she soon realised that Lucius had been gone longer than usual to get more drinks. As she pushed passed the crowd and tried to focus on where she was going, she soon gave up and, taking off her ridiculously high heels, she made her way back to the Common Room. Upon entering the strangely quiet communal area, she gave up hope of finding him and thought he'd perhaps gone off somewhere with the Quidditch Team. Bearing in mind that they all became rather rowdy when they got together, she wasn't particularly surprised if they'd led him away somewhere to celebrate his potential eternal glory and given her current state, she found it hard to care. She made it up to her room and stumbled in, managing to unzip her dress with a quick simple spell under her breath, and stepped out of the pool of clothing now on the floor. Falling into bed, she realised she wasn't wearing anything except the diamond around her neck and thought to herself she should probably change, but sleep soon took over, fuzzing out her mind quicker than she could think to get back up.

He stumbled backwards as she pushed him further into the depths of the library, her lips tying furiously with his, her hands untucking his shirt to grab greedily at the muscular definition underneath. He responded too quickly, his tipsiness more numbing than he'd thought as he slipped her dress strap off her shoulder, the kiss intensifying as he spun her around and perched her on the table. She brought her legs up and around his waist, pulling him closer as she started unbuttoning his shirt and he pulled down her dress so that her chest was exposed against his. He grazed a hand over her, her breath gasping as she came closer to his ear and started on the zip of his suit trousers.

"Tell me how much you want me Lucius-", through his drunkenness, he suddenly realised what he was doing, the sheerly obvious mistake he was making, out of the stupidity of having had one too many. The voice which rasped against his hearing, wasn't hers. It wasn't the right one. Not the one it should be. The guilt flared within him as he grabbed her wrists to stop her touching and then he pushed away from her.

"Shit. Shit shit shit-", he turned away from her, squeezing his eyes shut as he rubbed them with one hand, pinching the furrowed spaced between his eyebrows. "What the hell am I doing-", he quickly picked up his pooled shirt off the floor as she pulled her dress up to regain her decency.

"Lucius, I-", she went to explain, to try and get him back to where they'd been, so that they could continue uninterrupted.

"Shut up Clara! I don't want you, okay?-", he bit at her through closed teeth. Disgusted at not only her, but himself for being so stupid and letting her reel him in again. She looked on the brink of tears at his words and so he tried to soften it, to soothe the repercussions of his initial insult.

"Look-", he stepped over to her, buttoning back up his shirt, refastening his trousers. He spoke again as he helped her re-do her dress. "I have someone else in my life now. I can't lose her. Not for anything-", she sulked and dropped her head, disappointed that she wasn't his 'one'.

"So why did you come in here with me?... I didn't use love potion this time and you still came with me-", she tried to get him back yet again.

"Because I'm stupid Clara. So, so stupid. And probably too drunk for my own good... I love her Clara-", she hopped off the table and slapped him. Harder than Narcissa had. Completely out of pure jealously and hatred towards this 'other girl'.

"Well fine-", she gritted her teeth and brought her face close to his, and being worried she might make a move again, he stepped away a little. "She can have you... It's not like you were good in bed anyway-", and she huffed off back towards the Great Hall. As he watched her leave, he sat down in one of the chairs at the table, contemplating exactly what he'd done. It was just kissing. Then he kicked himself inside. It had been far from it. And even if it had been 'just kissing', he'd idiotically put everything on the line. He tried to remember back to how they'd even gotten here anyway. He'd gone to get drinks, she'd come to ask him if she could have a quick word and then... Nothing. How had she gotten him to the library? In the state he was in? Perhaps his mind was foggy from something she'd given him yet again, but thinking about it, his recovery had been too instant. He had been suddenly too quick and alert, realising what he was doing. And if Narcissa found out. He folded his arms on the table and in the privacy of the empty library, he broke down, tears falling as he buried his head.

After what seemed like a while, if not hours, he continued through the castle halls, finding his way back to where he belonged, if she'd still have him. As he walked, he hoped. Hoped that she would 't find out. And if she did, that she'd understand, although, there wasn't anything to understand. He'd just nearly had sex with another girl, a girl whom Narcissa knew he'd had a 'fling' with before. He made it back to the Common Room, where his fellow quidditch team members seemed to have crashed out on their way to bed, laying on the floor, a couple on the sofas and one on the large coffee table. As he made his way past them, he accidentally knocked into Zane who had passed out into a deep sleep on the floor, the kick from Lucius however, stirred him.

"What the f-", his hand went to his head as he looked up to see Lucius, "Lucius! Where the hell did you get to? Saw you goin' off with that Clara girl...", his words were slurred and it reminded Lucius of the dizziness he was feeling himself and his need to lie down. "Didn't get a shag in did you?-", Zane laughed jokingly and Lucius felt the sickness rising, possibly from the drink, more likely from his earlier actions.

"What?-", Lucius tried to understand him, put what had happened into context, "no, no I didn't... Did you see Narcissa come through here?-", Zane's hand which had been cradling his head pointed to the direction of the stairs and he got up off the floor slowly, swaying slightly as he stood next to Lucius and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Probably went to her room-", Zane's voice them became a whisper and a smirk peeled across his face, "she's probably waiting for... Well, you know what I mean-", he winked and Lucius left him to carry on up the stairs. When he reached Narcissa's room, he kept as quiet as he could, clicking the door open and pushing it to, so that it made only the slightest sound. He fumbled around with his clothes, leaving them in puddles across her wooden floor, almost tripping over her dress. He started to be able to make out her sleeping outline as he moved towards the bed, climbing in and shuffling under the covers so that his naked body was pressed up against hers. She stirred and he just held her. Held her so that nothing, not even his stupidity could take her away. She mumbled something as she groggily woke, her eyes adjusting to the dark and the stranger in her bed. At least he was a stranger until he was touching her in ways that were familiar. The way he smoothed a hand over her breasts as she sleepily arched her back against him. His hand wandered down, his hardness pressing into her back, causing her to move herself so that he could tease her with his hand.

"Turn over-", he whispered against her ear, his voice rough, as she turned onto her front and he held himself above her. He nudged himself between her, parting her legs as he put a hand on her stomach and pulled her so that her back was arched again and he could push into her. The tightness caught his breath but his made him thrust harder, deepening in her unlike the first time when he'd tried to be gentle. He made her breath race, her heart pounding as she moaned his name into her pillow. As he continued to thrash within her, on a race to get her to peak at the same time as him, Clara's words flickered in the back of his mind, 'you never were good in bed'. It faltered him as he slowed and softened slightly, being caught off guard by the thought. As he tried to regain his momentum, he leant down to her, letting his body rest on hers for a minute.

"Are you okay?-", he felt a sudden need to try and comfort her, worried that his quickness in seducing her might've panicked her, but her breathing was deep and calm, her eyes closed. He kissed her lips and then on the cheek. Not feeling himself come back to the moment, he attempted to move her, whispering as he did so. "Cissa... You're going to have to help me a bit here-", he withdrew himself and knelt between her legs, placing a hand on each hip to pull her up to all fours. He pushed back into her, hoping the contact would harden him properly again, which it did slightly but not enough for him to keep going. He cursed Clara and the thought of her in his mind for ruining it. Then again, maybe her words had been correct. "Cissa, I'm sorry... I can't-", he apologised for his lack of performance as she rocked back onto him, wanting more of him.

"Fuck me Lucius-", her words were through gritted teeth and they hardened him as the thought of her instantly turned him on again. He returned to the quick rhythm, holding her hips as he did. As the intensity grew, so did the need to completely let go and he had to bite his bottom lip to stop himself. As she urged him to go faster and harder, he peaked with her and as she contracted around him, he released. They collapsed, him on top of her as he kissed and nipped her neck as she tried to slow her breathing. He rolled off her and lay beside her and she looked up at him, smiling and flushing, satisfied yet embarrassed at what she'd said to him in the moment of pleasure. He kissed the top of her head and cocooned her in his arms as she fell back to sleep, guilt raging his body, tinged with confusion. Had he just come back to have sex with her because he didn't get it in the library? What if he had... No. How could he even think that way. Pushing the thought aside for the night, he snuggled down with her and drifted off.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

The doomed day dawned on them too quickly. Lucius had been distant, too distant, ever since the Yule Ball. Although to Narcissa, this didn't appear out of sorts, considering he was about to be thrown literally, into a situation which may cost him his life. She'd slept alone that night, whilst he'd been in his room, preparing for the first challenge. The silence of her room, without even just hearing him breathing in his sleep as a comfort, led her thoughts to spill out of her mind. They'd filled the empty space around her, buzzing in her ears until the room became too stuffy and she'd had to open the window to let the thoughts spill out so that she could gulp in the cool air.

Watching the mountains before her as she usually did, the rising December sun cast gaunt shadows across the fields. It was only the night before, that Professor McGonagall had asked for her presence in the main school office and had explained that she would be used in the first, both physical and mentally barbaric task. She had been forbidden to disclose the details to anyone, namely her chosen 'finder' as it was, who happened to be Lucius. Even just his name set her on the edge of breaking down and grabbing a piece of parchment and tearing off the corner, she scribbled a note to him, not quite sure if this was going beyond the rules she'd been given. Truthfully, she didn't care.

"Lucius. Please find me."

She folded the small piece of paper into a neat square and clicked her fingers for it to disapparate to him, knowing that an owl would cause too much suspicion.

As he tried to prepare himself for anything that could be thrown upon him in a cruel test of his ability, he blinked his eyes open, as the small crackle of the paper reappearing, sounded next to him. He opened it and read the words, knowing exactly who it was from. Find her? Now? He didn't have time the first challenge began in barely ten minutes. Realising this, he left the note on his bedside table and collected his wand in place of it. As he was about to leave, he took in the room, how Narcissa had carefully walked around it. It then occurred to him that this might be the last time he saw it and as he looked around, he closed his eyes and remembered her face. He snapped out of it however, fearful that the thought of death would bring him to his knees and with that, he left the room, on towards the trial.

He tried to pick her out of the crowd as he passed them, trying to find her innocence amongst the roar of the Slytherin students, shouting his name in a rhythmic chant. When she was no where to be seen, he gave up, hurt that she hadn't come along. But then again, did he blame her? He made his way with the other champions, not giving Clara the satisfaction of his eye contact and they walked together in unison to Dumbledore, who stood, accompanied by Professor McGonagall and the Minister of Magic. As they gathered around, Dumbledore divulged the components of the task and what each student was required to do.

"And so the time has come, for you all to prove yourselves, not only in magical skill, but in mental nerve-", he caught the eyes of each of the champions, warning them that good things were not ahead of the start line. "Someone, who you hold close to your heart, has been taken... Taken and hidden-", his stomach twisted, knowing that Narcissa was the only one he'd shown any affection to and that would explain her absence from the stands. Dumbledore continued, "-where they are hidden within the school grounds is not something I can tell you... Using your minds before sorcery is paramount to find them... Find them somewhere which is also held in your heart-", he wracked his mind, thinking of somewhere he'd pushed away into his memory as somewhere he didn't want to forget. "On the sound of the canon... You may begin-", as the crowd started chanting again, the boom of the canon marked the start and he found his legs carrying him. Carrying him back to the castle.

It was eerily empty as his footsteps echoed in the spaces around him, wand on guard for fear that something dark would come after him. He made his way to the only place he thought she could be; the astronomy tower. He couldn't think any further beyond that, fearful that he (or she) would get killed along the way, and so he kept the destination in mind and focussed on anything that might happen around him. He cursed himself as he did so. If he'd known she'd be involved, he'd never have put his name in. He'd never have put her at risk. As he reached the steps of the tower in a frenzied run, he carried himself up, jumping and missing every other step as he went, desperate to get up there faster.

"CISSA?!-", he yelled for her, wanting her to shout back and reveal her hiding place. But nothing. As he stumbled amongst old furnishing items under the main astronomy platform, he became flustered, turning things over as he shouted for her again and again. He took to the steps up to the platform where he could look out. Leaning on the railings, he breathed deeply, trying to focus his mind. She wasn't here. Even if she had been, he hadn't been particularly challenged. As he opened his eyes from the madness of his thoughts, the lake glittered in front of him. He looked around and immediately came across the jetty. The jetty close to where they'd first kissed. Somewhere he'd hold in his heart forever...

He span around, legs flailing quicker than he could keep up with, but the need to get to her overpowered and he could barely breathe as the running became faster. As he made it outside, he squinted at the sunlight starting to break through the clouds. He stormed towards the jetty, pulling of his cloak, ripping off his jumper over his head, grasping his wand as he ran off the end, diving into the darkness. As he plunged through the water, it bit at his skin. It filled his ears in piercing droplets, fuzzing out his hearing. Through the thick liquid, he managed an incantation so that a bubble formed around his nose and down his neck, allowing him to breathe as the buzz from his sudden entry into the water cleared. As he sank lower to the bottom, he began to swim, pushing through the foliage, creatures of the deep sweeping past him. As he managed to get into the clear, the vast body of water ahead of him daunted. She could be anywhere... As he began to sink down and stop swimming, something grazed his ankle and he flinched, suddenly swimming ferociously as he tried to put space between him and whatever had tried to grab him.

"Lumos-", the words where blurred through the water as the glow from  
His wand was also impaired. He began to look further around, trying to make out objects as far as his eyes would allow him so that he was covering more space quicker. Something flickered in his peripheral vision and he swam quicker again, fearful something was after him. As he swam, he made it to another clearing and at the pit, he could make out the merpeople, circling something...

He swam slowly, the pressure of the deep pressing down on his head, his hair splaying out around him as he came to a stop. Narcissa. He could make her out, just about. She was lifeless and for a moment, he contemplated that she was dead. That they'd killed her - the vile, fang toothed swimmers that were holding her hostage. He dived deeper, getting closer to her, but in his efforts, the animals that had captured her swam up to him, one behind him grabbing one of his ankles and pulling him backwards through the water. He kicked around, trying to get them off, push her away and as he did so, one of them spoke, it's voice piercingly painful through the lake, rasping against his ears.

"You can't have her... You don't deserve her after what. You. Did-", the words hit hard, angering him. He aimed his wand at the one who had spoken as light erupted from his wand and blew it back. As the others went back to grab him, scratching at his skin, he again aimed his wand over and over until a clear path formed towards her. He swam, more desperate than ever to get to her, knowing that as soon as he touched her, they'd have to let them both go. He stretched out an arm and as he was mere inches from her, another reached for his leg, yet he was quick to kick it away, knocking it out as it sank to the floor of the lake.

He reached for Narcissa's hand, expecting a response from her as he did so. She didn't move and he became frantic in trying to wake her, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her violently, however the movement was slowed by the water. In a last attempt, he waved his hand past his face and the bubble keeping him alive, disappeared. He grabbed the collar of her cloak with both hands and pulled her close, their lips colliding through the icy depths. She instantly stirred, the shock of the water causing her to be confused as her hands fumbled for him. Running out of air, he took her hand and began pulling her up to the surface, barely reaching it but managing a last spurt of energy to pull them both up. They surfaced, gasping for the air, treading water together.

"Come on-", he grabbed her collar again with one hand and started pulling her through the water towards the jetty, trying to swim with one hand. Slowly, they got closer and he pushed her in front of him so she could get to dry land quicker. The force of him pushing her got her to the jetty, yet she didn't have strength to pull herself out and so clung to the wooden stilts until he reached her. He climbed out, muscles flexing as he did so and then he outstretched a hand for her. Grabbing onto it loosely, she momentarily lost all energy and sank back under the water and he pulled her out, putting his hands under her arms to lift her the rest of the way. Letting her body flop onto the rafters, she lay there limply as he tried to bring her back, shaking her shoulder.

"Cissa... Cissa! Please don't leave me... Don't leave me...", he pleas were drowned out by the rest of the school coming towards him, some people running towards his evident moment of victory. As tears stung his eyes, he was thankful that the water from the lake hid his weakness. He knelt next to her, holding her head in his lap, rocking back and forth with her, whispering to her. "Please, please please please... Not now... Please don't leave me now-", he kissed the top of her head as Dumbledore's face changed, concern flooding his eyes. Professor McGonagall ran ahead of him, pursuing Miss Black. As she neared them, she too knelt beside her, tapping Narcissa's cheek to try and get a response, yet when nothing happened, she turned around, shouting back for help.

"Someone get Madam Pomfrey! Quickly!-", and as she was frantic, Lucius also became flustered, shaking Narcissa by the shoulders trying to gain her consciousness, begging for her not to dead.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

He sat next to her as she slept. Watching her eyes flicker behind her dreams. He held her hand, tried to speak to her now and again, hopeful that it might bring her back. The lake, the trial, his stupid decision to enter himself had only brought her harm. It'd been a week since he'd found her in the depths and since then, she hadn't opened her eyes to the world. It had a been a mass panic, from both students and teachers to get help for her quickly, as she'd laid lifeless on the jetty. Thankfully, they'd managed to get her to hospital soon enough for them to take immediate action, taking her out of wet clothes, trying to get her warm and dry again. He'd sat with her that night too and the night after, unable to leave her side. That was until her parents had come to get her and had insisted on knowing exactly what had happened, why she'd been in the lake and most importantly, why she'd been chosen as Lucius Malfoy's 'person to find'. He'd had to explain himself to them and thankfully his effortless confidence with people had helped him with that. He'd made quite the impression with them and so they'd let him come and visit Narcissa as she recovered at home. He closed his eyes, resting them from having looked at the same scene for too long. Her. Sleeping. Too still. He sighed out, slowly and deep. As he did, he felt her hand twinge and his eyelids shot open.

"Cissa?-", he stood up and leant over her, inspecting her face intently for any sign of movement. When nothing else happened, he whispered to her. "Please Cissa... Please, please, please-", as he prayed under his breath, she croaked.

"Lucius?-", her voice cracked against the dryness of her throat and he reached for the glass of water on her bedside table. He lifted it to her lips, lifting her head up from behind to support her sipping.

"Thank God you're awake-", his words wobbled slightly and he tried to hold back from crying out of sheer happiness, that she'd come back to him after what seemed like an eternity. She tried to open her eyes more to see him, her heart beating loudly against her chest. Perhaps it was from just seeing him, or maybe it was the sudden hot flush that had gripped every limb. She started to push the covers off herself, Lucius helping her to do so.

"I'm too warm-", her eyes closed again and the all too familiar frown appeared. He pulled the sheets down past her feet, sitting on the bed as he did so, placing a hand on one of her ankles and rubbing his thumb in circles. Her breathing steadied again after the short frenzy.

"Where am I?-", her eyes remained closed, as though she was still too tired to work it out herself.

"You're home-", as he spoke, her lids flitted open again. Home? She was at home with Lucius? She stared at him for a moment that seemed to lengthen itself each time they thought it might end.

"We had to bring you home... I thought we were going to lose you-", he was speaking but she wasn't properly focussed on his voice. Instead, she'd set the cogs moving in her head again. They took her past the point of where she ideally wanted to remember from and she closed her eyes. The Yule Ball... That night when Lucius had come to her... How he'd missing... The tournament... Being surrounded by the murkiness...

"The tri-", she was about to ask him, ask him whether he'd won. How long had she even been like this for? Maybe he'd finished the entire thing... He cut her off with a shake of his head, a wisp of hair falling across his face, which he promptly pushed back.

"I withdrew, Cissa-", her eyes widened.

"What?-", she shook her head a little this time, not making sense of anything at all, no matter how hard she tried to engage her mind.

"I withdrew... I nearly lost you... It wasn't easy, but I'm not prepared to put us on the line...", he'd lowered his gaze, watching his own finger trace along her foot.

"But... The Ministry, the Goblet... They said it was imperative, mandatory that you did it-", she was shaking her head ferociously, closing her eyes again. He moved up the bed and sat next to her again.

"Cissa, look at me-", he plucked her face up by her chin, gently with his finger. His eyes warmed her, the worry dispelling from her face a little. "I'm not doing it anymore-", he cupped one of her hands with both of his, waiting for the imminent question.

"But how?-", she waited intently for him to answer, curious as to what it might be. How he'd manage to turn the Ministry's decisions, how he'd managed to bypass the binding contract he'd entered into when he placed his name into the cup.

"My Father-", it was the first time he'd mentioned or made any remark towards him.

"Your Father?-", her inquisition caused him to nod, breathe deeply in and explain to her.

"Narcissa, my Father, as you probably know is a wealthy man-", of course she knew. How could she not. The Malfoy family was on par with hers. Filthy rich and so much so, they were practically royalty. If you had an ounce of magical blood in you, you'd be fully aware of who the Malfoy's and the Black's were. It hadn't occurred to her until now, she'd done precisely what her parents had wanted, without even acknowledging their bloodlines. He'd never been a Malfoy to her... he was just Lucius. But how her parents must've been absolutely thrilled when he had brought her home to recover. He interrupted her thoughts.

"Well, let's just say that the Ministry was more than accommodating to accept the small fortune that was offered to take me out-", she looked at him and he snapped away, seemingly ashamed that he'd gone to such lengths to get out of the tournament, obviously worried people would think of him as a coward. He looked back up to her, his face stern.

"Narcissa-", she didn't like the way he was using her full name, it was too serious and formal, yet it made her listen to him more. "You do know what you're getting into by being with me, don't you? My family-", she nodded, drawing breath. She supposed she'd known all along, in the back of her mind. Maybe because she'd grown up around it, she had been automatically programmed to go for the pureblooded type. Maybe he had too. Her heart sank at the mere thought that he was with her for the sake of magical blood, and the thought, was evident all over her face.

"I still love you despite that Narcissa, but being who we are... You know there will be expectations-", his voice was low, keeping the conversation private between the two of them despite being alone. Why was he telling her this now? Her head reeling, she thought over the word 'expectations'. If their relationship was to go any further, coming from two of the most well known pureblooded families, everything would be everywhere. Their engagement would be announced on the front page of The Prophet. So would their marriage. And the birth of their children. Not to mention that if that happened, the majority of the wizarding world would wait with baited breath until that too, was announced at the Ministry. She then realised she was getting far too ahead of herself. They'd barely been together a month.

"I don't want you to feel pressured Narcissa... As though you feel it's simply the right thing to do-", he squeezed her hand before rising and she pulled back on him.

"Please don't leave-", she was desperate. As though he might not come back. As though his little speech had been a farewell. He leant down and kissed her forehead.

"You need to rest Cissa-", his voice was soft and it calmed her a little. As he left the room, she snuggled down, leaving the sheets off and contemplating everything he'd just told her. It proved too much for her to handle all at once and she drifted off again.

"Ah Lucius... Take a seat-", Lucius had knocked and entered the office of Cygnus Black, who had in turn offered him the seat opposite him over the grand desk. Lucius nervously sat down, Cygnus doing the same as he sparked his wand to the fireplace, igniting shallow flames.

"You wanted to discuss Narcissa?-", he clasped his hands and rested them on his stomach as he leant back in the leather chair, Lucius nodding and coughing a little to clear his throat.

"Er yes, Sir-", as he began, Cygnus nodded for him to continue. "Not in the very near future, but one day, I plan to ask Narcissa to marry me, of course that is, if you'd agree?", Cygnus had been expecting it. Pureblood married into the same lines and he laughed a single snort, thinking how stupid Lucius would've been to not ask him. He leant forward, resting his arms on the desk.

"Well Mr. Malfoy, you can most certainly have her... If she of course says yes-", he smiled, waiting for something else from Lucius. When he said nothing, he proceeded. "When exactly are you thinking?-", he wanted some sort of time frame, greedy to know when the whole affair would take place. Eager for them to continue the family name and blood. Lucius pondered before answering him.

"Whenever the time is right-", his answer didn't particularly satisfy Cygnus who huffed a bit.

"Well let me warn you... Narcissa is a stubborn one-", they both smiled a little, knowing his words were true. With that, Lucius rose from his seat and held out his hand, which Cygnus took and shook firmly, nodding once for him to leave the room.

Two weeks had passed by, filled with almost nothing. She'd returned to school and she lay in her bed, one arm hanging off the edge as she stared out of the window. The trickles of December rain raced each other down the glass, the wind racketing the pane. She sighed, waiting for a knock from Lucius, half expecting it not to come. Since she'd been back, he'd been strangely absent and there were a few nights when she'd not been able to find him at all and so had resorted to going to bed alone. It surprised her then, when his soft rasp came from  
behind the wood. She clicked her fingers and the lock opened as he let himself in.

"Hey-", his smile softened her as he closed the door to and walked over to the bed, kicking off his shoes and snuggling up to her, lying on top of the sheets. She sighed deeply and turned around to him.

"Where's your diamond?-", his question brought one of her hands to her neck. She looked panicked for a second before a relief brought calm over her face.

"In the drawer-", she pointed across to her dressed and he climbed off the bed, pointing to each draw until she nodded. When she did, he distinctly remembered it as the drawer he'd 'accidentally', already rooted through.

"I think it's at the bottom-", her voice was sleepy and he'd noticed she'd closed her eyes again as he began to rummage to the bottom. After what seemed like an eternity of black lace and 'girl things' he'd rather ignore, he found the small jewellery box. He opened it, taking the necklace out. As he lay back down, he fastened the clasp behind her neck and she stirred, immediately questioning what she'd wanted to for a while.

"Where do you go Lucius?-", he seemed puzzled at the question and so she embellished. "At night I mean-", he swallowed, too hard so that his nervousness glinted in his eyes. She'd caught him out on something and she could tell. "I can never find you when you go missing-", he shook his head.

"I can't tell you... I'm sorry. Maybe one day-", she frowned, turning onto her back and crossing her arms in a huff. "I wish I could, but... I'll leave you to get ready-", he kissed her cheek and left her alone again. Alone with her thoughts, which as usual, ran rampant through her head, sparked by him not telling her a single thing. Her mood was soon broken by an owl pecking at the window, the daily paper attached to it's foot. As she slid open the window, trying to avoid letting the drizzle in, she caught the top headline and quickly shut the pane to, fumbling as she tried to open the paper, stuck together from the wet.

'DEATHEATERS RIFE - REMAIN VIGILANT'

Deatheaters. She'd heard about them and whom they followed. Her Mother had warned her, but she didn't think that HE would ever return. She dropped the paper, pushing the thought out of her mind, determined not to let it scare her. As she did so, a harder knock slammed her door and the lock clicked open herself. Lucius? He didn't breeze in as he had done before, and instead, a typhoon wind stormed him in as he searched for something. Seeing the paper, he whipped out his wand and it burst into flames.

"Lucius?-", the glint in his eyes, the way he'd been suddenly frantic. It had terrified her. He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a little, glaring at her.

"Did you read that paper Narcissa?-", his voice was a little raised but she quickly shook her head and he let go of her.

"Lucius?... What are you not telling me?-", he turned away from her, hoping she wouldn't say anything else. "Because now would be a good time to tell me-", he turned around, face in his hands.

"Cissa, sit down-", she sat down on the dresser chair behind her and he came and knelt down in front of her.

"Narcissa...", he began but then his words whispered, "my beautiful Narcissa... I'm so sorry-", his eyes flooded with tears on par with his apology and she swallowed. She waited for him to calm down and took one of is hands to hold.

"This isn't easy... Narcissa. But... As you could've guessed from the headline... The Dark Lord is returning...", she nodded slowly, her stomach twisting, nausea pounding through her body and to her head. "I-I've been... Helping them, Narcissa-", he slowly looked up to her as her eyes widened and she paled. "I'm one of them...", he cleared the tears with his sleeve as she broke down, falling forward into, hands over her face, as he wrapped his arms around her. He'd never meant for her to find out. He'd known all along it would break her. She was suddenly pushing away from him, hitting violently at any part of his body she could reach.

"WHY?! WHY LUCIUS?!-", he grabbed her wrists to control her.

"I was lost Cissa... I joined before you, but then you came along and... I want to leave, please know that I really do... But he won't let me... If I try... He'll come after you-", she slowed her attempted flailing at his words, still scared beyond her means but the crying coming to a sniffling. "I have to do it... If I want to keep you alive-", his eyes met hers and she looked away again. He let go of her hands and they dropped into her lap. She put everything into her mind. This was Lucius. She trusted him didn't she? At least she had done. Not being able to contemplate it, she simply nodded, knowing, or rather hoping, that what he was doing really was to keep her safe.


End file.
